This is Jason blogging for Meggan who is still recovering from the "cocktail" she received!
Surgery day. Long day. First you know surgery is coming, so everything moves slowly. Tv, games, internet, bathroom, breakfast - all before 9:00 a.m. - now what do we do? Finally lunch, but there's still another hour and a half before 'the call' comes. Then the time comes to wheel her down the hall, only to get a phone call saying that surgery is delayed. The waiting continues.....until you get a call saying we're still waiting. Meggan was scheduled for surgery at 2ish. She leaves me at 1:37 for prep. I then received 2 calls and a 'real person fly-by' saying "Still Waiting!"
I did get some guy movie in. Braveheart. A crazy long movie. Did not help the wait.
Success. Meggan finally got in. Five thirty - surgery began! Six thirty and Meggan is out. The doc called and said everything went fine. She did have a hole in there that he fixed. I don't know how extensive the surgery was (if there are small cuts or large cuts like last time) Meggan is now recovering. The wait is over......well no. I'm waiting for her to come up from the recovery room.
To pass time, Meggan and I played a game (before 'the call' came.) - The Settlers of Catan. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a board game in which you build settlements and roads, cities and armies with resources in your region. It's very involved, but we played and it's tied (Meg 1, Jas 1) Lets just say after surgery, I think I have the upper hand!
She's back in the room at 8:27 and is busy sleeping!
I think we need to rename the hospital to the waiting. It makes sense. Cause that's what ya do!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Surgery Day
We've found out that the surgery is scheduled for 2 pm today, altho they said it's also common to be called earlier. I would be grateful for that since I am VERY THIRSTY!! Haha. Jason is looking forward to Braveheart and/or Gladiator (Maximus! Maximus!) while I'm gone.
Amusing little twist today - they now have a psychologist who does the rounds. This makes sense to me, since I know this (actually all) surgery can be a huge stress, and a lot of people have a hard time adjusting. But of course I was laughing to myself; everyone is quite encouraging... but the psychologist did a good job of pointing out all the possible complications. I'd say he's a good means of his own job security!
We're in good spirits; I've heard nothing but positive news from the tests yesterday. The one real downer is that they insist on waking us up at 7 am! Why? Where are we going to go? Is there something we're late for? You'd think they would just let me sleep!!
So that's the scoop... thanks for checking in!
Amusing little twist today - they now have a psychologist who does the rounds. This makes sense to me, since I know this (actually all) surgery can be a huge stress, and a lot of people have a hard time adjusting. But of course I was laughing to myself; everyone is quite encouraging... but the psychologist did a good job of pointing out all the possible complications. I'd say he's a good means of his own job security!
We're in good spirits; I've heard nothing but positive news from the tests yesterday. The one real downer is that they insist on waking us up at 7 am! Why? Where are we going to go? Is there something we're late for? You'd think they would just let me sleep!!
So that's the scoop... thanks for checking in!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Fun, fun and more fun
Here we are, installed in one of the rooms in the new rooms at the Continent Ostomy Center at Palms of Pasadena Hospital, St. Petersburg, Florida. Weather conditions are sunny and warm... which means the view from the hospital room is lovely! Phone is (727)381-1000, room 261.
Traveling yesterday went fairly smoothly; all the flights got in early and departed on time. And, praise God, I was not too devastated to leave Parker, altho I was missing him before we had finished walking to our gate! Unfortunately, we weren't quite to prompt to the hotel; our shuttle driver couldn't find our hotel (a flaw in the GPS being that it can't find roads whose names were just changed) -- Jason pointed out that it took longer to drive 15 miles to our hotel than it did to fly from Atlanta to Tampa!! But the hotel was clean and quiet, so the test prep went well, and we both actually managed to get some sleep.
Today has been long - full of tests and tubes and pokes and prods and, most recently, some nausea. But now we're just waiting until tomorrow and surgery. The pouch was scoped this morning; thankfully, it looked great, but that also means we still aren't sure what the problem is. The radiologist is still working on my scans, but we were encouraged by the doctor who did the scope. Since he couldn't find anything, that narrows down the problem quite a bit and means the pouch will not need to be replaced! YAY!
Jason, dear man, is bored and has been since he got done unpacking before lunch! But I'm much calmer just because he's here (and spending this much uninterrupted time together has reminded me how goofy he is). Tomorrow will be a guy movie day while he waits for the surgery to end and then for me to wake up; but maybe he'll have some company since one of the techs here couldn't stop watching the Jackie Chan movie we had on whenever he came in!
I've seen some familiar faces today, including one nurse who really went above and beyond for me before. It's good to be in familiar hands, and I love that all they do here is pouch stuff!
Parker doing well; he got to milk a cow today. Sounds like more fun than we had. I'm thankful he's old enough to understand this a little better! Probably won't be up to posting tomorrow, but Jason is happy to answer any inquires -- we're praying for good news to report on Saturday!
Traveling yesterday went fairly smoothly; all the flights got in early and departed on time. And, praise God, I was not too devastated to leave Parker, altho I was missing him before we had finished walking to our gate! Unfortunately, we weren't quite to prompt to the hotel; our shuttle driver couldn't find our hotel (a flaw in the GPS being that it can't find roads whose names were just changed) -- Jason pointed out that it took longer to drive 15 miles to our hotel than it did to fly from Atlanta to Tampa!! But the hotel was clean and quiet, so the test prep went well, and we both actually managed to get some sleep.
Today has been long - full of tests and tubes and pokes and prods and, most recently, some nausea. But now we're just waiting until tomorrow and surgery. The pouch was scoped this morning; thankfully, it looked great, but that also means we still aren't sure what the problem is. The radiologist is still working on my scans, but we were encouraged by the doctor who did the scope. Since he couldn't find anything, that narrows down the problem quite a bit and means the pouch will not need to be replaced! YAY!
Jason, dear man, is bored and has been since he got done unpacking before lunch! But I'm much calmer just because he's here (and spending this much uninterrupted time together has reminded me how goofy he is). Tomorrow will be a guy movie day while he waits for the surgery to end and then for me to wake up; but maybe he'll have some company since one of the techs here couldn't stop watching the Jackie Chan movie we had on whenever he came in!
I've seen some familiar faces today, including one nurse who really went above and beyond for me before. It's good to be in familiar hands, and I love that all they do here is pouch stuff!
Parker doing well; he got to milk a cow today. Sounds like more fun than we had. I'm thankful he's old enough to understand this a little better! Probably won't be up to posting tomorrow, but Jason is happy to answer any inquires -- we're praying for good news to report on Saturday!
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
How are you?
For those of you who don't know... Jason and I are heading to St. Petersburg, Florida, because I need surgery... again! The briefest description is that I have a modified digestive system that has a hole in it (and is being a real bully to some of my other organs) and needs to be repaired. If the hole is as small as we're hoping it is, this will be a 10 day (or less) total trip. I thought it might be nice to have a place you all could come to see how things are going. Our crazy little man, Parker, will be shared between both sets of his grandparents, which means he will have a nice little vacation and probably be sorry when we get back! (Just kidding.)
Today has been crazy, of course, as I rushed around with a lot of frenzy and no clear objectives. Subsequently, I'm not ready to leave tomorrow! The laundry has mounted another counter attack, the dust bunnies are big enough to ride again, and I haven't seen my kitchen counter in days. So I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to coming home, sore and not back on my feet, to the chaos that is my house. Oh, well, at least it will be familiar chaos!
But I'm very proud of the most important thing I did today... play with Parker because he wanted me to.
On the positive side, tho, the last few weeks of waiting (and enjoying the lovely side effects of a long course of antibiotics), I have been awash in the love of my friends and family. Of the 700 plus people that I share Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship with, I think I've been hugged by at least 537 of them. How lovely to be asked, "How are you?" when someone actually wants to know! Such love is a glimpse of the divine, and seems to me to be how God wants His children to behave - loving and supportive, helpful, prayerful, unified by our mutual faith.
It's also been a huge blessing to be once again reminded how incredible my family and friends are - they've been bending over backwards to help and encourage us.
We leave tomorrow for St. Pete. I expect our layover in Atlanta to be a good time to drink some ginger ale (oh, how I love clear liquids...) and play some Settlers with my hubby. Tests begin on Thursday; we hope to get results that will give Friday's surgery a clear goal. If you've taken the time read my ramblings, I can only say, "Thank You". And the next time I see you and say, "How are you?", I really do want to know!!
Today has been crazy, of course, as I rushed around with a lot of frenzy and no clear objectives. Subsequently, I'm not ready to leave tomorrow! The laundry has mounted another counter attack, the dust bunnies are big enough to ride again, and I haven't seen my kitchen counter in days. So I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to coming home, sore and not back on my feet, to the chaos that is my house. Oh, well, at least it will be familiar chaos!
But I'm very proud of the most important thing I did today... play with Parker because he wanted me to.
On the positive side, tho, the last few weeks of waiting (and enjoying the lovely side effects of a long course of antibiotics), I have been awash in the love of my friends and family. Of the 700 plus people that I share Cedar Crest Bible Fellowship with, I think I've been hugged by at least 537 of them. How lovely to be asked, "How are you?" when someone actually wants to know! Such love is a glimpse of the divine, and seems to me to be how God wants His children to behave - loving and supportive, helpful, prayerful, unified by our mutual faith.
It's also been a huge blessing to be once again reminded how incredible my family and friends are - they've been bending over backwards to help and encourage us.
We leave tomorrow for St. Pete. I expect our layover in Atlanta to be a good time to drink some ginger ale (oh, how I love clear liquids...) and play some Settlers with my hubby. Tests begin on Thursday; we hope to get results that will give Friday's surgery a clear goal. If you've taken the time read my ramblings, I can only say, "Thank You". And the next time I see you and say, "How are you?", I really do want to know!!
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