Update on my wife -Chapter 2
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2010 1:15 pm
Our dearest friends -
Our deepest apologies for not keeping you updated after Kathy’s surgery, however I had no web access for the unexpected, extended stay at the hospital.
Sunday after her surgery on Thursday the 20th, about 3:40 AM, I was called by the PCU nurse saying that Kathy was “somewhat anxious”. I arrived about 20 minutes later and found 13 people in her room. Her anxiety had turned to panic and that in turn caused her to hyperventilate, multiplying her respiratory distress. By 4:10 she was in ICU, had a vent tube down her throat to her lungs, a NG tube in nose and down to her stomach, 3 IV’s, restrained and wired to 6 different monitors. Fortunately, by the Grace of God, she was in the right place with the right people to save her life, for which I will be forever grateful.
It wasn’t until Tuesday I was able to understand why Kathy was so agitated and panicked. She was so sedated, she did not know what was going on with her and why all these tubes, restraints and wires were attached to her. After talking to her surgeon and the head of ICU, Wednesday, after they raised her pain level to 9 or 10, she became lucid enough to understand where she was and why, we brought her pain level back down to a 5 or so. 18 hours later, the vent tube came out, 12 hours after that, the NG tube was removed, 16 hours later they removed the chest drain tube and the catheter and 4 hours later were able to move her to PCU again.
Her doctors visited her every day and on Tuesday came with some incredible news; Surgery was a success. The surgery had removed ALL the cancerous cells, there were no cancer cells in any of the surrounding lymph nodes or tissues and she will not need to go through any chemo or radiation.
Kathy came home on Wednesday late evening, after 14 days in the hospital, with a great mental attitude, knowing that her 2 to 3 month road to recovery will be fraught with some pain and anxiety. She also knows that perseverance, prayer and the prayers of all our friends and family, she will overcome all obstacles for a full recovery.
We cannot express out heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your prayers and thoughts during Kathy’s trials, knowing that they helped her get through this ordeal. We have been so blessed with friends that truly care.
And to those who have donated to my grand-daughter's Avon's Walk against Breast Cancer, thank you. For those who wish to, here is a link to Mandy's Avon page
http://tinyurl.com/AmandaWoldWalk
All our love
Kathy and Tom
Our deepest apologies for not keeping you updated after Kathy’s surgery, however I had no web access for the unexpected, extended stay at the hospital.
Sunday after her surgery on Thursday the 20th, about 3:40 AM, I was called by the PCU nurse saying that Kathy was “somewhat anxious”. I arrived about 20 minutes later and found 13 people in her room. Her anxiety had turned to panic and that in turn caused her to hyperventilate, multiplying her respiratory distress. By 4:10 she was in ICU, had a vent tube down her throat to her lungs, a NG tube in nose and down to her stomach, 3 IV’s, restrained and wired to 6 different monitors. Fortunately, by the Grace of God, she was in the right place with the right people to save her life, for which I will be forever grateful.
It wasn’t until Tuesday I was able to understand why Kathy was so agitated and panicked. She was so sedated, she did not know what was going on with her and why all these tubes, restraints and wires were attached to her. After talking to her surgeon and the head of ICU, Wednesday, after they raised her pain level to 9 or 10, she became lucid enough to understand where she was and why, we brought her pain level back down to a 5 or so. 18 hours later, the vent tube came out, 12 hours after that, the NG tube was removed, 16 hours later they removed the chest drain tube and the catheter and 4 hours later were able to move her to PCU again.
Her doctors visited her every day and on Tuesday came with some incredible news; Surgery was a success. The surgery had removed ALL the cancerous cells, there were no cancer cells in any of the surrounding lymph nodes or tissues and she will not need to go through any chemo or radiation.
Kathy came home on Wednesday late evening, after 14 days in the hospital, with a great mental attitude, knowing that her 2 to 3 month road to recovery will be fraught with some pain and anxiety. She also knows that perseverance, prayer and the prayers of all our friends and family, she will overcome all obstacles for a full recovery.
We cannot express out heartfelt gratitude to all of you for your prayers and thoughts during Kathy’s trials, knowing that they helped her get through this ordeal. We have been so blessed with friends that truly care.
And to those who have donated to my grand-daughter's Avon's Walk against Breast Cancer, thank you. For those who wish to, here is a link to Mandy's Avon page
http://tinyurl.com/AmandaWoldWalk
All our love
Kathy and Tom
