Hi J-m and Deb,
I will be praying for deb and hope she has a succsesful recovery she is
in my prayers Keep us Post!
> >Hello All, > >It's J-M. again, reporting on Deborah's progress at the CMC in Scranton... > >I ended up waiting a long time after speaking with Dr. Gerhart, before they >called me back to the recovery room to see Deb... about two hours. I was >getting pretty nervous... what could be happening?... did they forget about >me? >Well, they certainly hadn't forgotten about me, and did call me in. The >nurses in the OR recovery area were very busy taking care of Deb when she >came out of (the rather long!) surgery. She was very cold. Her body temp >was actually lowering. They had to take measures to warm her up: wrapped >her in warmed blankets, and utilized a "Bear Hugger" (?), which is a >cocoon-like inflatable fabric bag through which regulated hot air is >circulated . > >As the anaesthesia was wearing-off, Deb was experiencing considerable pain. >When I finally got in to the recovery room she was warmed-up again but quite >sore. When they were sure she was 'stable' (by about 24:00), she was moved >up to a room (rm # 463), where we are right now. She was admitted under Dr. >Gerhart and he had left the 'orders' for the nurses (on the department). > >Deb was, however, still in considerable pain. The medication wasn't ever >taking the 'edge' off her pain. The nurses did everything they could within >their standing orders. Then, when a few hours had elapsed (by about 02:30, >22 June) and Deb was still not getting satisfactory relief, they >unhesitatingly called Dr. Gerhart at his home. He was happy to work through >the exercise of finding the right medications with them. I understand he >needed to be called more than once and clearly wanted (even demanded) to be >called for whatever reason, at any time. > >By about 04:30, Deb's IV was hooked-up to a PCA (Patient Controlled >Analgesic, I think?) which allowed her to get pain medication when she >required it... to the extent prescribed by the doctor and programmed into >the machine. That, and an additional Demerol shot (through the IV) not more >than every two hours, and some pretty powerful anti-nausea medications have >kept her discomfort and pain almost 'under control' at times. > >She has been able to get up and make it as far as the washroom several >times, completely under her own steam. She's really fighting to do the >right things to make this a successful recovery. > >Now, about 24 hours after the surgery, Deb's really experiencing a lot of >discomfort: abdominal pain, cramping, nausea, and all-over soreness. There >have been a couple times when she's nearly been over-come by nausea... >all-the-while dreading the inevitable strain on all those tender abdominal >muscles that would come with vomiting. With the help the very responsive >nurses, she has been able calm down each 'episode'. > >She'll remain in hospital, under Dr. Gerhart's and Dr. Redan's care, >probably for at least a couple more days. They speak favourably about >getting her pain and nausea under control. I hope so! > >I'll talk you again... >J-M.