Mom: Fused and Recovering...

Crabapple (I think?) tree at the arboretum.

Mom is officially 'fused' and konked out in the ICU recovering from her cervical fusion earlier today. Jeannine spent the entire day with her, not leaving the hospital until after 8 PM, so I received regular texts and phone calls throughout the day. 


She is in the ICU simply as a precaution since she has existing heart issues. We actually like this better because the ICU is really empty tonight--so there is one nurse for each of the three patients! 


At this point, surgery appears to have gone well. Dr. Neurosurgeon told Jeannine that there was a "tremendous amount of pressure on the spinal column," which made for a long and difficult surgery, but a successful one. Surgery was somewhere between 3 and 4 hours long. 


Dr. Neurosurgeon asked Jeannine: "Now are you going to call her daughter to let her know what is going on?" Jeannine said: "As soon as you walk away!" So, the lines of communication were really open, and Jeannine was able to get good information and advocate for Mom throughout the day (making sure Mom was in the right room, re-doing her med list which had somehow been lost, checking on the pain meds she was supposed to get, etc.). Jeannine also dealt with me all day long! So many little things get missed when someone is not there to advocate for you...I just don't know how we could have done this without Jeannine, who really knows so much about Mom's history and needs.


Mom has only woken up a couple of times very briefly. She's mostly been sleeping (and snoring!) and has not requested any pain meds, which seem to be good things. She hasn't gotten up to pee yet or eaten anything other than ice chips. The times she was awake, though, she has been lucid and able to communicate, and passed all of the post-surgery cognitive testing with flying colors. Her throat is really, really sore.


Dr. Neurosurgeon said the anesthesia used for this type of surgery is like a big thunder cloud and will take some time to clear and for Mom to wake up. At this point, no one seems concerned that she isn't more awake. I think she went into surgery exhausted and her body is just getting some very much needed rest. At least that is what I hope is the case. I don't quite understand what the anesthesia is like, but patients are hooked up to electrodes and monitored by an off-site neurologists who makes sure that the patient can talk, feel, hear, etc. throughout the surgery. You know, while the neurosurgeon is digging, scraping and cutting around the spinal cord! :P

Crabapple tree.

It's hard for me to imagine how hard Mom's body has been working to even hold her head up with the amount of spinal instability and compression she had going on. I really hope that she will find that giving the nerves some much-needed space is going to help her overall well-being in the long run.

Thanks to all of you who texted, instant messaged me, called, and checked in on Facebook. It's been hard to 'sit tight' and wait today, so it really helped to have incoming messages to distract me and know that Mom and I were in your thoughts and prayers.

I'm ready for some TV time and cuddle time with Asher. I am going to call the ICU nurse right before I go to sleep so that I can check in on Mom and see how she is doing with her night so far. Jeannine will be in at 7 AM to check on Mom and will pop up throughout the day to keep checking on her.

As Jeannine left the hospital tonight she said to the nurse: "her daughter might call later to see how she is doing". As Jeannine walked away she heard the nurses turn to each other and say: "Who is she then??" We decided maybe Jeannine should just fully embrace her role as sister and daughter in our family and say: "My sister will be calling later tonight. She's on night shift." :) 

I wrote this post earlier tonight. Here is the 'Late Night Update':

Just as I was readying to call the nurse to check on Mom before bed, the phone rang and it was Mom!!!

I am so glad that I got to talk to her, but it's awful to hear her say she feels miserable. :( Because her throat is so sore and she is so tired it was hard to hear all that she was saying, but she is really uncomfortable from the swelling post-surgery and from the sore throat. 

She said she is absolutely exhausted and threw up from the anesthesia tonight. One of her former students is working the ICU tonight and she said she was getting exceptional care. 

She has asked for no visitors and no phone calls while she is in the hospital the next couple of days (this includes me). She just really wants to rest. Thank you for respecting and understanding this request. Your healing thoughts and prayers are much appreciated. 

Blessings,

Emily