Is It Time Yet?

Friday we left home at 7:45 a.m. to reach the hospital by 8:45. Just as we were reaching Salt Lake City, the phone rang. There was an emergency surgery that bumped us. We were to report at 10:15 for a 12:15 surgery. OK. We decided to go rest at Ashley's home in North Salt Lake until it was time to go. We enjoyed seeing our sweet grandson. At 10:00, we arrived at the hospital and checked in. They moved us to the surgery prep area. We waited and waited. Keep in mind that it is Friday at noon and Andrew hasn't eaten anything since Wed. night. Next thing we know, they bump us again but this time with no idea when the surgery will actually be. We couldn't believe it. I was not a happy camper. I decided to go eat something so that I could regroup. Andrew wanted to continue to wait. He just wanted to get it over with. They put him on an iv to help with his starved condition. We watched tv and waited. Finally, they took Andrew back for surgery at 4:00. They wanted to place an epideral but it ended up in a failed effort. The surgery was very long. It went 4 hours. It is very hard to do nothing but wait. I fell asleep in a chair by the window. Finally, we got a call that they were 45 min out from completion. They said that things were going good. When the surgeon came out, he had very good news. They had to do two different surgeries; a bowel reconnection, and an abdomenal reconnection. The surgeon was very pleased with how the first goal was reached. It took four hand because they had to work through some scar tissue. It took a lot of time but, things went together well. Second, the abdomen went together completely. They needed a little more slack at one spot, so they opened a side spot wider to gain a little more give to it. Then they sutured dermamatrics to the new wound site. Randall went back with Andrew in recovery. Andrew woke up with a muscle spasm that was very painful. The pain team took care of things quickly so that we could check into his room. Andrew slept well for several hours until he had an itching response to the pain meds. Once they resolved that he was able to rest again. Andrew has a implant that carries pain med locally to his wound site. He also has an on-demand pain med system. There is also a drain for his wound. It is fascinating what medicine and creative medical engineers have come up with to increase post-op comfort! We were exhausted by the end of the day but so happy with the outcome of the surgery!! Andrew was in a good, positive mood.