Trapped in the basement, but now free AT HOME!

What a day! As I wrote in the earlier post, we went to the hospital this morning not sure that Sumana would actually have her surgery. However, when we got in to the surgical waiting area, they took us RIGHT in! I guess a bed did open up and that kept Sumana on her slated surgery time. The real bummer was that in the basement there was NO cell phone coverage OR internet! It was such a claustrophobic/cut-off sort of feeling. So many apologies for not posting sooner!

The surgery was supposed to be about an hour; however Dr. Sanders had reserved the operating room for 2 hours. I was fine for the first hour and a half. We had our 'usual' waiting out the surgery crew: Melody, Deb and Sonia so there were plenty of distractions. However, as 2 hours approached I started to get really antsy (maybe it was the 4 cups of coffee I drank!). At 2 1/4 hours I was up and around asking questions. Then, thankfully, at about the 2 1/2 hour mark, Dr. Sanders came out to speak with us.

The surgery went VERY well, the rods were lengthened at 2.5 cm. The good and bad news is that now she's outgrown one of the rods and will need a new implant at the next surgery. Her left lung did not look very good on the initial x-ray, so he said she would not be extubated right away. What a disappointment! But, 45 minutes later, they called me in to see her and lo and behold, she was awake, tube-less and smiling!!! What a wonderful surprise!

The ensuing hours were VERY chaotic and stressful. I don't even want to go in to it. Greig says the bottom line is that it worked out for the best. There was so much drama going on about where Sumana was to go next, that they kept her in the recovery area . . . . and kept her . . . . and kept her. By that time she had had 2 glasses of water and a bit of cracker AND she had used her cough assist machine. When they finally said she'd be going to a regular room, I began to have second thoughts.

The other two experiences I have had on the 'regular' floors were not particularly good ones. Both times we were moved to ANOTHER room in the middle of the night. Also, I had to do all of the care of Sumana and we had all the usual hospital noise and interruptions. So, I thought 'If I have to take care of her any way, I want to go home!' And, that made me brave enough to ask the doctor if we could go home. The resident called Dr. Sanders and surprise, surprise HE SAID YES!!!! (By the way, her lungs sounded good at the time!)

So, we left the house at 8:15 this morning . . .the roads were snowy and we saw a couple accidents . . . but not bad . . . and we were home by 8:00 tonight. Sumana is doing really well. The bummer is that her pain meds make her throw up, so she hasn't had anything besides Motrin since 2:30 this afternoon. Her pain level is at a '5' so she's hangin' in there pretty well.

I have some pictures, but I'm pooped! I'll try to post them tomorrow. Thanks for your prayers for us today. Please continue to pray that Sumana's lungs stay clear and that she heals quickly.