John has had surgery finally!

RevLee

Hi everyone. Sorry I have not been back for a while again. Time just seems to slip by so fast anymore.

First, I am so sorry to hear about Kitten. What a lovely person, but a very special angel. An example we should all learn from.

Second, John had his surgery yesterday. John’s surgery was yesterday, and the actual surgery was 11 ½ hours long. The great news is that they were able to use his stomach. Unfortunately, since so many years have gone by since his stomach stapling, a lot of adhesions had built up. They caused a ‘webbing’ around the stomach and had attached the stomach and areas of the colon together. They had to cut away all those adhesions. In doing that, they put a small nick in the upper colon, underneath the stomach. The surgeon did not want to just repair it, so he had a GI surgeon come in and remove the small portion of the colon that had the nick and resection it. The ‘pull up’ of his stomach went fine. Then, they knew he had a hiatal hernia. When they checked out his diaphragm to repair this, they discovered, as the surgeon said to me, that his diaphragm looked like Swiss cheese with all the smaller hernias. They repaired all of this with mesh. All the side stuff is what caused the surgery to go into overtime.

I finally saw him when he was placed in ICU at 10 PM last night. He was talking and his color was good. He complained that his neck really hurt. The nurse said it was from the position he was in for so many hours. I thought, geez, wait until you feel the pain from the incisions!! But he has an epidural for pain and also a pump to give him a boost of pain medication.

I just heard from the ICU nurse. This is amazing. 12 hours after that long surgery and he not only was sitting in a chair, but he took a short walk. Oh, the power of prayer!!

Lee

mumphy

Hi Lee,
Glad to hear the John's surgery went well. Now is the time for you to rest if you can believe
me. He will be well taken care of by the nurses. Get alot of rest while you can as long
as he is stable trust me Iknow you want to be by his side every minute, but he will need you well rested when you get home.

God has gotten you this far and I know you have to be tired so take advantage of the skilled
workers that are taking care of him. Trust me use some of this time for yourself.

Keep us informed of his progress.

God Bless.
Kath

Betty in Vegas

Wow isn't it amazing what the human body can do?
What an extensive surgery! But it sounds like they found a lot and fixed a lot, which is GOOD! He is getting more than he bargained for! Bonus surgery!

How are you holding up? prayers coming your way.

Betty

RevLee

mumphy said:

Hi Lee,
Glad to hear the John's surgery went well. Now is the time for you to rest if you can believe
me. He will be well taken care of by the nurses. Get alot of rest while you can as long
as he is stable trust me Iknow you want to be by his side every minute, but he will need you well rested when you get home.

God has gotten you this far and I know you have to be tired so take advantage of the skilled
workers that are taking care of him. Trust me use some of this time for yourself.

Keep us informed of his progress.

God Bless.
Kath

Tired
I am tired, but a good tired. I decided to come to work and save the day for when John comes home. I will take your advice!! Thanks Kath!

RevLee

Betty in Vegas said:

Wow isn't it amazing what the human body can do?
What an extensive surgery! But it sounds like they found a lot and fixed a lot, which is GOOD! He is getting more than he bargained for! Bonus surgery!

How are you holding up? prayers coming your way.

Betty

Bit tired
Thanks for the good words! Prayer is so powerful! I am tired but I wanted to save the day for when John comes home so I came to work. I work with very understanding people, so it is not a problem. I figure I will just go home after seeing John and hit the sack early. Our daughter said that since they fixed him up inside, he should feel a lot better after he is healed.

Thanks for the prayers!!

Lee

Unknown

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Tina Blondek

unknown said:

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Dear Lee,
I am new to this
Dear Lee,
I am new to this site, but I am so thrilled to hear your news about your husband, John. Praise the Lord. Now is the time for all of us to give God our prayers of thanksgiving. Best of luck to you, John, and your family. This is the best Christmas present to have!! keep us posted.
Tina

K_ann1015

what a wonderful bit of news!
Lee,
I am so glad to hear of the good news! I will keep John in my prayers (and you too!). This is such a journey for all of us... We are all able to survive so much more than we believe possible...

We're all here for you both!
Kim

Hope_Faith

Yippee! So glad to hear he
Yippee! So glad to hear he had surgery and his surgery went well. That's a good idea to save your time off for when he comes home from the hospital. It'd be great if you could keep us updated on how he's doing now and then as he recovers. So happy for you!
God Bless,
Shelly

RevLee

Tina Blondek said:

Dear Lee,
I am new to this
Dear Lee,
I am new to this site, but I am so thrilled to hear your news about your husband, John. Praise the Lord. Now is the time for all of us to give God our prayers of thanksgiving. Best of luck to you, John, and your family. This is the best Christmas present to have!! keep us posted.
Tina

Power
The power of prayer can never be underestimated. Many times it goes far beyond medical miracles.

Thanks for your prayers.

Lee

RevLee

K_ann1015 said:

what a wonderful bit of news!
Lee,
I am so glad to hear of the good news! I will keep John in my prayers (and you too!). This is such a journey for all of us... We are all able to survive so much more than we believe possible...

We're all here for you both!
Kim

news
Thanks! John had a good day today in ICU. Since his surgery went beyond the normal esophagectomy, I expect a longer recovery. But his spirits are good and that is half the battle!

I just have to learn to pace myself. I work a full time job and I need some time for me, but I want to be there for him. ICU is not a comfortable place to sit in. They allow you there from 11am to 8pm without restrictions other than only 2 visitors at a time. But it is cramped, noisy, etc. I will be glad when he is in a regular room. But, hey, he is still here!

Lee

RevLee

Hope_Faith said:

Yippee! So glad to hear he
Yippee! So glad to hear he had surgery and his surgery went well. That's a good idea to save your time off for when he comes home from the hospital. It'd be great if you could keep us updated on how he's doing now and then as he recovers. So happy for you!
God Bless,
Shelly

Burp
Thanks for the encouragement Shelly! Tonight he burped. You never have seen someone so happy that they burped. The nurse was happy to. Every little step counts. He has a long road to go but he is a fighter. He was more alert and peppy today. I hope they move him to a step-down unit soon.

Lee

RevLee

unknown said:

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

Surgeons
Hi William,

Yes thank God they have a great team of surgeons. It turns out that the surgeon they pulled in to repair the colon was the same surgeon who did a breast biopsy on our daughter 21 years ago. My daughter recognized the name. She is now reknown for colon and liver surgery. John had a good day today and seemed more alert and peppy. But I know to take it one day at a time. Like the nurse said to John, do not get distressed if you have 3 good days and one bad. It is how the body acts when healing.

Lee

JaneE2366

RevLee said:

Burp
Thanks for the encouragement Shelly! Tonight he burped. You never have seen someone so happy that they burped. The nurse was happy to. Every little step counts. He has a long road to go but he is a fighter. He was more alert and peppy today. I hope they move him to a step-down unit soon.

Lee

power of prayer
Lee,
Totally agree....never under estimate the power of prayer.....and if burping is a good sign.....great! Baby steps....that is something a good friend of our constantly posted to my husband on our CaringBridge site.
I pray John continues to progress.
Stay Strong,
Jane

RevLee

JaneE2366 said:

power of prayer
Lee,
Totally agree....never under estimate the power of prayer.....and if burping is a good sign.....great! Baby steps....that is something a good friend of our constantly posted to my husband on our CaringBridge site.
I pray John continues to progress.
Stay Strong,
Jane

doing okay
Baby steps are good. That is how John is approaching eating. I measure his food and put in on a smaller plate. So far, so good. His spirits are good, and that is 1/2 the battle. He is on a feeding tube 16 hours a day. I think once that is done, things will improve even more.

Thanks for you prayers and I am sending some your way also!

Lee

K_ann1015

RevLee said:

doing okay
Baby steps are good. That is how John is approaching eating. I measure his food and put in on a smaller plate. So far, so good. His spirits are good, and that is 1/2 the battle. He is on a feeding tube 16 hours a day. I think once that is done, things will improve even more.

Thanks for you prayers and I am sending some your way also!

Lee

sounds like John is doing well!
sounds like you guys have a wonderful holiday to celebrate too! Posting on how he is doing will help others know what to expect ad what works/doesn't work. So thanks! We all will continue to keep you in our prayers...
Kim