re-sending--Steve's Baaaaack!.....Re: Steve's Surgery Update

[Guest guest]

Mail not getting through, so am re-sending. --Steve

Many thanks to DW, Isabelle and DD, Virginia, for getting this info

to you all. I had no idea until I read the note below that the sleep

apnea was affecting my blood oxygen levels in recovery. I was put on

a biPAP machine (bi-level Positive Air Pressure) with oxygen and

humidity added. Because of this, and in spite of Dr. Elariny's true

wishes, I was sent to the Intermediary Care Center (IMC) instead of

the surgical floor where Audra was. Two male and one female night

nurses at the IMC were awesome and helped me no end. I was walking by

day 2, and recall having asked one latina nurse who emerged from

swinging doors at the end of my track down the hall, " ?Quisera

bailar? " (wanna dance?).

But, the day staff that attended me was a different story: organized

mayhem, and a wonder that patients were not made much worse for it as

a result. I could not wait to get off that unit, and I finally got a

private room " on the 9th floor where the bathroom plumbing was

gold, " I was told (it was--it was also a cancer ward). So, Friday

afternoon through discharge late Saturday afternoon, I had relative

calm in my life. But, the hospitalization was not a good experience.

I was to be discharged in late morning, and just as things were

winding up, the nurse's aide took my vitals, and my temp was 100.7ºF.

So, I could not leave! I worked my incentive spirometer to the max

and walked the halls of the 9th floor back and forth so that I could

get out of jail, and finally was sprung at around 4:30PM.

At home, an on-duty rep of a medical device supply house brought over

a biPAP for me and set it up. I could not use it last night,

however, because I kept coughing from a throat tickle. Turns out

that I have picked up a head cold somewhere, and now I have a hard

time sorting out post-op symptoms from the head cold ones. Mizzable,

I am! But, alive.

Now, for a few notes: I was totally unprepared for all the pain that

I endured. The first day post-op, I had extreme " incisional pain "

that defied my pain meds. Even sipping a teaspoonfull of liquid was

thoroughly painful. By the second day, that had moderated somewhat,

but my stomach had awakened, and seemed to be spewing acid into my

esophagus. I went to my private stash of Prilosec and Isabelle got

me some Tums, but they didn't help much for hours and hours. Also,

everything that I managed to get down came back up, again and again.

One sip of cranberry juice, and five repeat performances, as it were.

My potassium was low, and Dr. E. ordered I.V. potassium, and when

injected, it made my arm bones feel on fire--some of the most intense

pain that I have felt, ever. I yelled my objections and refused to

take any more (four doses were ordered, and I was barely through the

first). The mayhem team called Dr. E. and he insisted that I take

the potassium, and suggested that maybe giving me Lidocaine first

would ease the pain, but the message was delivered to me with a

negative twist (like, " you really don't want to do that, do you? " ).

Finally, the solution that worked was to decrease the administration

rate, so that the pain was bearable.

Saturday morning at 5:30 AM, the northwest passage through my gut was

re-discovered: the stomach, and small intestines, and the colon were

all awake, and as I sat down on the throne with its golden fixtures,

I heard the gurgling in my gut that heralded the completed circuit!

Poop at last, poop at last... And, since then there has been nothing

but liquid poop--in all the earth tone shades. But, then again, I

am ingesting nothing but liquids, so what else should I expect?

I am indeed thankful that despite several significant discomforts, I

experienced no major complications. So, no complaints. But, I was

not one of you who glibly went from the hospital relating that they

hardly knew that anything had been done to them inside. Believe me,

I KNEW IT! And, I am uncomfortable and cantankerous right now, but I

expect to get back to my old curmudgeonly self in about a week.

At 7:55 PM -0700 5/2/01, Montgomery wrote:

>

>

>Hello All,

>

>Isabelle called a short while ago to inform us that Steve came through his

>surgery with flying colors. The surgery lasted 3.5 hours, and according to

>the doctor, all went very well. He is, however, spending a great deal more

>time in recovery than average due to his severe sleep apnea. Apparently,

>whenever he drifts off to sleep his oxygen in take dips below an acceptable

>level. As a result, he is wearing an oxygen mask and is being monitored

>closely. They expect to keep him in recovery another hour or so and then

>will return him to his room. I will keep you posted of any further

>developments. Also, for those of you who have heard of Steve's concerns

>regarding the " leak test, " we have good news. The doctor, being well aware

>of the problem with the technicians, had the test performed today. I'm not

>clear whether the doctor did it himself; but, the end result is that Steve

>won't have to deal with the test and the technicians tomorrow.

>

>Virginia

>

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