Spring flowers at the Riverside Pavilion

Friday, April 17, 2015

A not-so-quick update –

Wednesday’s surgery went well. Dr. Rento removed David’s right kidney and a football-sized tumor, and told me “I got it all” … I hope he’s right! In the process, he found that the tumor had not invaded the main renal artery significantly – it had begun to move into the artery, but not enough to cause any need for major vascular reconstruction. According to Dr. Rento, he was able to “reach in and pull it completely out of the vein.” Along with the kidney and tumor, he also removed all the surrounding fat and lymph nodes. Now we wait for pathology to let us know what it is, and how far afield it is in regard to the lymph nodes.

David spent the first night after surgery in the ICU because he had significant blood loss during the surgery (requiring a transfusion of 4 units of blood). David remembers coming to in recovery and the entire team was working frantically to get his blood pressure stabilized after it had plummeted – all that happened before the epidural pain meds had been started. The pain was intense until the blood pressure was under control and the epidural drip began. He spent about 4 hours in recovery, partly due to his blood pressure issues, but also because the hospital was in over-flow mode and rooms were not available. Finally he was taken to ICU and we were able to see him briefly before leaving for the night. Since he was in ICU with one-on-one nursing, I felt like it was safe to go home.

I returned Thursday morning around 8:15 and as I walked into ICU and looked across the way I was surprised to see him sitting in a chair in his room. However, when I got to the room and spoke with his nurse, she told me that his blood pressure had plummeted again and caused him to nearly pass out. As it turns out, they had handed him the gadget for deep breathing therapy just as he settled in the chair and told him that he need to inhale deeply 10 times every hour. Being the over-achiever that he is, David decided to get all 10 deep inhalations out of the way – basically he hyper-ventilated. Needless to say, we’ve been a bit skittish about that gadget ever since, but we’re trying to remember to do those deep breaths 3 or 4 at a time, spread over 60 minutes, and he’s doing fine!

Getting into a private room as requested was quite an ordeal. Without going into great detail, suffice it to say, that we had a civilized confrontation with the nursing manager and before supper, David’s roommate was provided his own private room, leaving us with a much cooler, quieter private room, too! I spent the night with him last night to be sure he was going to be alright … I know, he’s a grown-man, but he’s MY man and I wanted to be sure, especially after the private room fiasco, that he was going to fair well. As it turned out, everyone was kind, compassionate, and very helpful.

It was a good night, albeit, not restful! For some reason, blood drawn at 4:30am is much more useful than blood drawn at a more reasonable 6am hour … but that’s how it goes in the hospital! There were pokes and prods, checking the vitals, emptying bags, sensor alarms, and all manner of things happening throughout the night, usually about every 2 hours or less. But, in spite of all the interruptions, the night passed uneventful, except for two slightly elevated temps during the night.

The morning rounds included the anesthesiologist to check on the epidural, a lady from respiratory to reprimand David about not using the breathing gadget faithfully – 10 times in 60 minutes – and then Dr. Rento came by and looked him over, too. He reprimanded me about getting enough rest to be ready for when I bring David home early next week! I wasn’t expecting that – young whipper-snapper! That made David’s morning, since he has been fussing about me staying at the hospital instead of going home. The tables turned when Dr. Rento reminded David that his elevated temperatures during the night were directly related to not using the breathing gadget often enough! He also told David to get up and sit in the chair a couple of times a day and also to try walking some. Now that’s going to be a trick – picture David in his stylish hospital gown, dragging a catheter bag, a blood pressure monitor, an epidural tube, and a tube inserted in his neck!! Just getting him out of the bed and turned around to sit in an adjacent chair is challenging as we analyze which way to turn in order to not trip over and dislodge any dangling appendages! By tomorrow, some of those lines will be removed and walking will be easier!

I left him this morning in the loving care of our son, Andy, while I came home to shower and change clothes and run some errands. A few minutes ago I sent a text message to Andy, asking how Dad was doing and his response was “Very good. He ate all his lunch. Little walk in the room. Hour long nap. He ran me out at 1.” So there’s progress!

We have been blessed with the faithful attention of our kids and their spouses. When David was wheeled off to surgery, I dropped by the sandwich shop in the waiting area for lunch. What a surprise when I stepped out of the sandwich shop and saw my son-in-law waiting for me. He spent the afternoon with me, and we were later joined by Andy, Rebecca, our pastor, and a good friend. Everyone was determined that I would not be alone as I waited. And when I got home later that evening, my sweet daughter-in-law appeared at the back door with supper for me. My grandsons have been faithful dog-walkers while their Poppy is out of commission. Mollie is missing Poppy, but she’s happy for the attention of the kids!

I’ll be heading back in time to have supper with David tonight … don’t want to miss that clear liquid diet … UGH! Can’t wait to get him home and feed him some real food!