Quick Surgery News
I made it through the surgery yesterday (Sept. 11, 2007) and got home today. I don't know yet if it should be counted as a success or not. The goal was to track the discharge tract back to the source and elmininate it, which was done. But another goal was to not have to remove all of the synthetic mesh. We didn't achieve that one.
It turned out that 50% of the synthetic mesh was involved. I haven't discussed in enough detail yet with the surgeon to really understand what that means (or if I did, the Dilaudid kept me from remembering what he said). Portions of the mesh had also become detached. So with both the detachment and the involvement, he removed all of the synthetic mesh. This left a small hole which he sutured together, but we know that won't last.
So the current plan is to try to delay the abdominal wall reconstruction until after the first of the year. I don't have enough leave available to go through that this year. He also took cultures to see if there is an better antibiotic we should be using (I've been on the Invanz since the middle of July). We'll keep the PICC line in and continue IV antibiotics for a couple more weeks.
We had also planned on this being outpatient, but, of course, there were other complications (apparently, I wouldn't have it any other way :)). My blood pressure was very low (hypotension). I think the lowest was around 65/38. Which also meant that I couldn't have pain medication for most of yesterday and last night. Additionally, I bled a lot after getting to my room, so my red blood count was also down (the normal value is around 45 and mine was around 26). So we had to wait until that level stabilized before I could be discharged. It's still no where near normal, but it did stop going down as the bleeding stopped.
I'll have more news after my follow-up visits, but wanted to go ahead and get something out. I want to thank everyone for their prayers and support.
Labels: complications, medical, surgery
