Post-surgery Day 2

This morning Dr Mayo came by to check on Matt.  He thought Matt looked really good, ordered the nurses to remove his catheter and IV.  If he needs any pain management he'll take some pills orally.

Physical therapy came around 10:30 am and got Matt on his feet.  His blood pressure is on the low side and he struggled with light headedness so only stood for about 5 minutes.  They'll come again tomorrow.

Later this afternoon I helped Matt sit up and he walked to the bathroom and felt great!  He then proceeded to wash his hands in the sink, wash his hair, and brush his teeth.  He was very encouraged.

Matt is doing well on the CPM.  He's already almost up to 90 degrees flexion with no pain!

That's all for today...

Day of surgery (to remove ectopic bone)

We arrived at the hospital at 5:30 this morning.  We went through admittance and Matt received a small dose of radiation to help prevent ectopic bone from forming again after today's surgery.  We happened to pass Dr Mayo in the hall and said hello.  Matt yelled back, "Save the screws!"  He's hoping to get the screws that Dr Mayo will be taking out from his PAO in September.

Matt was rolled away for surgery at 8:30.  It was a long wait and I didn't hear anything from Dr Mayo until 3:40 in the afternoon.  The surgery went well but took longer than expected because there was a lot of ectopic bone.  He removed about an equivalent of 1 1/2 cups of bone and also cleaned out some scar tissue.  Dr Mayo was able to enter through the same incision spot from last surgery so Matt won't have any additional scars.  He lost a bit of blood but they reused what blood pooled and siphoned it back somehow.

Matt awoke from the anesthesia feeling a bit nauseous and threw up once.  The nurses graciously changed his bedding and then gave him some anti-nausea medicine which helped.  He's on an IV for pain medication and can control it himself.  So far he hasn't taken much.  He wants to do all he can to avoid having an ileus again.

They put him on a hip CPM in bed and he's doing well with it moving his leg up and down.  It's currently set at 40 degrees flexion and Dr Mayo wants him to work up to 90 degrees in the next two weeks.

Again, Matt has a catheter and also a hemo-vac to drain the excess blood from his surgery sight.  He's on oxygen and has an IV with saline to keep him hydrated as well as some antibiotics.

It's been a long day.  But we're doing well and are thankful for how God has brought us through.

Four tattoos and ectopic bone

Monday I had a CT scheduled for the radiation oncologist to use for targeting the radiation treatment he'll administer on surgery day. (This single dose of radiation is to suppress additional ectopic bone from forming after this next surgery.)

But the lingering dermatitis on my skin has been threatening the April 26 surgery date. It finally started to go away, so I stopped using the steroid cream, but the dermatitis returned so I'm back to using the steroid cream twice a day. The big question around here the last month or so has been, will it clear up enough for surgery?

Monday before my CT appointment Dr. Mayo carved out a few minutes from his schedule to take a look at my skin. I definitely did not want to absorb the extra x-rays for a CT if we weren't going ahead with surgery on the 26th. But thankfully it has cleared up enough for him to cut. He thought surgery was scheduled for the following Wednesday two days later, but was relieved that he'd have another week to think about how to get at all the ectopic bone. He's hoping to get it all through the PAO incision, but that may not be possible, so he might have to make yet another incision. I'm glad that in a situation like this that's not cut-and-dry he has three decades of experience to draw from.

So I went ahead and did pre-op with Dr Mayo's new nurse Renee and then had the targeting CT done.

The targeting CT gives the radiation oncologist the information he needs in order to plan how to administer the radiation. The tech marked the outside of both hips with crosshairs, plus another in the center near my waistline, and another near my belly button. Then she gave me four tattoos in the center of each crosshair--just a dot made by needle prick. She next taped BBs on each crosshair so the reference points would show up on the CT. Once that was done it took another five minutes or so to get the CT.

So everything's in place. The insurance company pre-approved the surgery. I won't need to bank any blood this time, nor do they have me taking iron. I also won't need to shower with that nasty hex-something-or-ever stuff the night before and morning of. I'll be on a CPM machine at the hospital, will leave on crutches, wearing TED hose and two more weeks of Fragmin to minimize the possibility of clotting and stroke, but when I return home I'll sleep in my own bed instead of a rented hospital bed, and won't need a CPM machine at home. I don't know yet whether I'll need a commode or shower chair again. I'll be on a no-straight-leg-lifting restriction for four weeks, and then I can resume PT.

I'm skipping the epidural, as wonderful as it was last time, in favor of PCA in hope that I'll be able to get back on my feet sooner, which will help the swelling to subside quicker and keep my bowels moving, unlike last time. I'm guessing it'll hurt more than the perfect epidural I had before.

Krista will stay with me for the three or four days I'll be in the hospital. We'll try to update the blog as things progress.

Thanks for your prayers!

[update: added photo]