update from patsy in las vegas(a little long)

January 5, 2004

hey guys,

have been lurking off and on but have been soooo busy. first hubby's

surgery, then holidays, then my niece's wedding. now everything is

back to the normal level of chaos!

hubby's surgery went fairly well. we went in knowing that he had a

bad airway and bad sleep apnea,so the " gas man " (anesthesiologist) did

an " awake intubation " . very traumatic, couldnt get the tube in, the

surgeon actually finally got it in. meanwhile, though they told my

husband he wouldnt feel or remember a thing, he did... said it was

the worst time of his life. the actually lap rny was done in 60

minutes and no problems. he was left on the ventilator as a

precaution for about 6 hrs after surgery.seeing him on that

respirator was the worst time of MY life! the visiting situation in

icu sucked. they have strict visiting hrs of 30 minutes every two hrs

and only during the day. while his assigned nurses never had a

problem letting me stay over, their nosy/bitchy coworkers would

complain that i was staying too long. however, every nurse had the

discretion of allowing family in at any time. i wasnt a pest so i

dont know what their problem was. control issues i guess. i have been

an rn for 30 yrs and never saw such antiquated policies and such

unprofessional enforcement of same.

enough whining. next day we were on the regular floor but that night

his throat swelled up and he had to put on his cpap. he was anxious

that it would damage his pouch.

good news is... after all that.... everything has been picture

perfect.with the drs permission he even drove us all the way back

from salt lake city to las vegas, a 7 hr drive (we stopped every 1 /2

hrs). 40 lbs down in 3 weeks, so energetic he is organizing the whole

kitchen. due to his type of job with heavy lifting he will be off

work another 3 wks.

as for me, i was a basket case the whole time he was in the hospital.

i know too much as a wls pt myself and a nurse. i ate junk the whole

time and now i am up 3 lbs. thats my story and i hope to have more

time to read the messages and get the support i desparately need.

patsy in las vegas

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