Surgery Update - Day One

Well, today was surgery day for Tenny. The past few days have all merged into one really long day for me. We came up to Chapel Hill last night since we knew she'd be one of the first ones to go today. After we checked into our hotel we went out to dinner together and I had such a fun time with her. I tried to soak it all in, knowing I might not see her happy for quite a long time.

I could barely sleep last night, worrying that I would sleep in and miss the surgery altogether (even though I set up a wake up call and set an alarm). We woke up around 5:45am and Tenn was already cranky. I don't blame her. It's no fun to get up when it's still dark outside.

We arrived at the hospital and checked her in. They sent us up to surgery and we only waited for a few minutes before they called her back to start getting her prepped. I talked to the anesthesiologist, the resident anesthesiologist, the nurse who would be with her, her doctor that would be performing the surgery, and his two residents. After that, they took her vitals, did a weight check and she was ready to go. They asked if I wanted to take her back. I've done that one other time, and knew we would both do better if they just took her. I watched them walk her back and she was so brave, she didn't even cry, but I'm sure she was scared.

The surgery took about 2 hours, so I went and ate breakfast and then sat in the waiting room until they came to tell me she was done. People have some crazy conversations in hospital waiting rooms. I was happy to see her doctor when he came in. He wasn't smiling and I instantly started to panic. I think he could tell and he told me right away it went great and she was doing fine. He said she had minimal bleeding, but to prepare myself for how wide her legs were casted.

I waited a few more minutes and was called back to the recovery area. She actually sounded good. She's usually really hoarse from the breathing tube, but not this time. They called me back because she was holding her breath a lot while crying. I could hear her even before I saw her. They couldn't tell if she was in pain, scared, or mad. I was guessing it was a combination of all three. It's hard to for me to figure out exactly what her cries mean when she's waking up from anesthesia. She was definitely holding her breath a lot so I attributed it to pain. They tried quite a few pain meds and she was still crying and holding her breath, so she had to have the oxygen mask on. I think this made her even more mad. She was covered in blankets so I didn't see her casts right away

I even bought cute socks and slippers....oh well

She stayed in recovery for over three hours. She cried for most of that time, but soon I was able to comfort her and she slept a little. I peeked at her casts and was surprised at how far apart her legs were. I also hadn't anticipated her feet would be included.

She took a second nap after they moved her up to her private room and I took the opportunity to go grab our bags from the car and get something to eat. They started her on pedialite, but she threw up. I was able to clean her up and put a shirt on her.

I was a little nervous earlier this evening because she started to have spasms that looked similar to her myoclonic seizures. I wasn't sure if these were the muscle spasms we were warned about, or if she was actually having seizures. I asked the nurse to call her doctor to come tell me what he thought. He was certain they were only muscle spasms, but increased her valium to help calm them.

Thank goodness for Kipper the Dog

I anticipate a pretty sleepless night, but know tomorrow will be better. She's still pretty upset when she is awake, but they are giving her pain medicine around the clock.

Amy

tennsense@gmail.com