Prayers answered!!! Thank you God!!! Surgery successful....WhaHoo!!!

[Guest guest]

Hi all...it's been a very loooooong day!! (No breakfast, b/c I was too

nervous) And I was going to come home, eat a bite and go to bed...but I don't

feel

like eating...and I'm too tired and keyed up to sleep!!!

We were at the hospital at 11:30 a.m., as requested, for surgery scheduled

at l:45 p.m. Long story short, they didn't take Glenn to surgery until 2:30

p.m. No problems with Glenn, just typical hospital " stuff " ....they want you

there 2 hrs. early and then you have to wait those 2 hrs. plus another!!!

Grrrr!!! (So I missed lunch, btw..b/c the cafeteria was closed by the time

they

took Glenn to surgery!!)

The surgery was scheduled to be 1.5 hrs. approx. , one of my sisters,

arrived at the hosp. just minutes before they took Glenn down, so I had a

brief moment of hugs and crying after Glenn was taken to surgery...got that out

of the way!!! LOL It turned out having there was a Godsend, not

planned btw, b/c the 1.5 hr. surgery turned in to 4.5 hrs.!!! I would have

been

totally frantic by then by myself...so thanks, , again!!!

Glenn was stable, according to the dr., during the whole surgery, but they

did have to put him totally out after 2 hrs. of surgery with twilight. Any of

you that know Glenn already know that nothing seems to go easy for him!!!

Anyway, I won't get in to that any further!!! So about 5 p.m. I called the

Recovery Room thinking they forgot to come and get me, but was told that he was

still in surgery, but everything was o.k. " just taking longer than expected

and wouldn't be much longer " . So we proceeded to wait...by the time the Dr.

came to see me, it was 7 p.m. (and he still had another surgery...guess that

person was starved to death by then!!! Poor person!!!) left at that

point knowing that our tough Coastie had made it!!! Well, the dinner time

cafeteria was closed by then!!! So I missed dinner, too!!! At 8 p.m. they

called me to Recovery and Glenn was lying there wide awake...they had been

looking for me and I was right where they left me and told me they would come

back

for me (but of course they changed shifts and the nurse that told me that had

left...grrr!!!)

We got Glenn to his room comfortably, but he was very hungry and didn't mind

telling anyone who would listen...of course, b/c he had anes., he's on full

liquids tonite...and is NOT a happy camper!!! The nurse finally got him some

chicken noodle soup...and said, " Ooops, some noodles fell in " ...she was

funny, but smart b/c she knew Glenn was going to give her grief until he got

something in his tummy.

The Dr. then came in at 9:30 p.m. (had just finished his surgery) and

pressed on Glenns new " pump " and it was really painful. Glenn's eyes opened

wider

than I've seen in a long time...and I knew what words were going through his

mind....LOL

What took so long was, the dr. wanted the tube attached to the right jugular

vein (he told me why, but I've forgotten) Glenn has a Gall Bladder scar on

the right side abdomen and he couldn't put the pump there for fear of scar

tissue problems. So he put the pump on the left side right above the waistline

with a tube down in to the abdomen and then had to " route " the tube going up

just above his nipple/chest area and over across the chest to the right

jugular vein. So he has 2 small incisions in the chest and vein areas and a

larger one where the pump is inserted just beneath the skin.

The pump works on its own...if Glenn lies down it pumps full force, if he

sits in his lazy boy position, it pumps some, if he's standing, it does not

pump. Glenn can tell when his tummy is filling up...he can first feel pressure

on different organs and then as the fluid increases, he feels pain, so he

will know when he needs to lie down or manually pump the pump himself. Isn't

this incredible?? To manually pump the pump, which is what the dr. was doing

when I saw the whites of Glenn's eyes, he presses and squeezes on the pump

itself. It won't always be painful... it's just sore now b/c the area is

tender

from the surgery. The dr. knew it would hurt, but wanted to make sure it

was working.

They will monitor him all night long, keeping him at a 45 degree angle but

lying him flat every 2 hrs. for 15 mins. so every time he gets to sleep, they

will wake him!! They will also check vitals and do blood tests several

times during the night to check for infection and also will be checking for

interanl bleeding. Oh, he'll be " fun " tomorrow!!! LOL

The ins. co. will only approve one night in the hosp. (unless he has

complications) so he'll come home tomorrow...oops...later this evening

(Tues.)...

This just amazes me that they send you home so quickly. We will still have to

watch for bleeding and any sign of infection (both of which we already know

Glenn is prone to do!!!) So please keep praying for Glenn's recovery...he

says his tummy already feels better to him...he was drained on Friday (9.7

liters) and the dr. took out 4.5 while he was in there today (3 days later) Of

course, now they are filling him with Saline IV's...to prevent dehydration.

His blood pressure was 100/58 just before I left the hospital...and that's

higher than it's been in a month...so all seems to be going well. And now, I'm

going to bed!!! Thanks again for all your prayers and positive thoughts...but

don't stop yet...LOL

Sorry this is such a " book " , but I needed to vent...thank you!! And thanks

to all who called to check on both of us! I had no signal inside the

hospital area where we were waiting. Thanks again to for " being there "

when I

was too stubborn to let anyone who offered do it...(she never listens to

me...LOL) and thanks to those who offered...mwaaah!!!

Hugs to all of you, Donelle