Tonsil Free Rosie

This time last week - October 12 - Rosie was having her tonsils and adenoids removed.  For a year her snoring has gotten louder and her teeth grinding and sleep apnea were frightening.  So at her three year checkup, we received a referral to talk with an ENT.  I came armed with video of Rosie snoring and her sleep apnea, and with that and the size of her tonsils, we were scheduled for surgery.

The surgeon said her tonsils and adenoids were really huge.  We knew they were big, but they were larger than even the surgeon expected.  The procedure was quick, and we were out of the surgery center quickly compared to Charlie’s surgery.  We were able to get fluids into Rosie with a syringe.  She fought it, crying that she would drink at home.  And in fact, she did. 

Her recovery has been relatively easy. For the most part, she has eaten her pasta, rice, yogurt, ice cream and popsicles well. She has been HUNGRY.  Today she got a waffle for the first time in a week and she was a happy girl.  Her tonsillectomy breath has been hideous, but that is normal. And she hasn’t always wanted to take her medicine but usually after a few minutes, she gets it down.

Here she is at home after surgery:

And after some medicine:

 And eating a popsicle!

So I Had A Little Surgery. . .

Bear with me for a minute, because this is kind of long.  It all comes together at the end, I promise, to explain why I had the right lower lobe of my lung removed on Friday.

I have had scoliosis since the second grade.  I wore a body brace for 5 years, and then my spine started to twist and my rib cage began to crush my lungs.  I had surgery when I was in the seventh grade and the doctor straightened my spine about half way  and attached a rod to my spine.  I haven't had any problems since.

Until now.

For the past two years, I have had a recurring respiratory infection.  It may have been longer than that, but I can only remember back that far.  And I only remember that because I was pregnant with Rosie, would throw up whenever I would cough and had to go to the hospital to get IV fluids.

But since then, every other month or so, I'd get a cough and a fever.  Then I got one last November that went away for a week and then raged back as pneumonia in December.  And then it came back in January.  And March.  And April.  And July.

So my primary care doctor sent me to a pulmonologist, who did a bunch of tests.  One of those was a CAT Scan, where they noticed that the airway into the lower right part of my lung had been smushed and was almost completely closed.  I had a bronchoscopy, where they went up my nose and down my throat and into the airway, which was so small they almost couldn't get in.  A biopsy showed that I still had pneumonia in the lower lobe and a strain of influenza.

Evidently I would get sick and the antibiotic would kill the germs in the rest of the lungs and tamp down the infection in the lower right lobe, but wouldn't cure it.  And gradually, the infection would come back out. I'm not really using that section of my lung because the airway is too small, but it is keeping me sick.

I went to an orthopedist and a neurosurgeon, who confirmed that we would not be moving my spine and ribs off the airway.

Which really left me with one option - remove the lower lobe of the lung. 

In an average person, the lower lobe is 25% of your lung capacity, but I'm not using it much so I won't miss it.  And the blood flow will increase to the rest of my lungs so I should see improvement in my overall lung capacity.

I went to see a cardiothoracic surgeon, who agreed with the diagnosis.  And we talked about removing the lung using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), which would be minimally invasive.  I was feeling pretty good about it.  They go in, take off the part of the lung and suck it out, I'm back at work in a week.  But then the doctor mentioned that because of my scoliosis, there was a 50/50 chance that they may have to do the lobectomy the old-fashioned way - cut me open, break my rib, take out the lung, in the hospital up to 5 days, out of work up to 4 weeks.

Regardless, she would start with the minimally invasive way and only break a rib if she had to.  But I really didn't think that would happen.  I even laughed at the brochure, which showed a very old man recovering from the thoracotomy.

I shouldn't have laughed.

I went in for surgery on Friday and right before I went in, the doctor (who is really awesome) said after consulting with colleagues, she decided it was best to not start of trying the VATS.  She was going straight to the thoracotomy.  I had about 15 before the surgery started to wrap my head around the fact that this was going to happen the hard way.

I made it through the surgery fine.  My mom and dad were here, along with Marc and his mom Janice, my aunts Nancy, Esther and Lyn and my Uncle Larry.  So I had a pretty big cheering section in the waiting room.  And the doctor said the lower right lobe did look very infected, so removing it was the best thing. But because of how my right arm was positioned during surgery, my shoulder was KILLING me when I woke up, and continued to hurt despite the morphine they gave me. 

The morphine - was that ever horrible!  It made my blood pressure drop waaaaay down to where I could not be given any pain meds at all.  And I hurt. I hurt BAD.  My shoulder hurt.  The chest tube (which I hate, hate, hate) hurt.  The incision hurt.  It hurt to breathe.  It hurt to talk.  It hurt to cry. It hurt. And until my blood pressure went up, I couldn't take anything.  My mom was about to go full-on Shirley McClain in Terms of Endearment.  And someone had mistakenly put in my file I was allergic to percocet.  So after my mom demanding that her baby stop hurting and me swearing I was not allergic to percocet and my blood pressure starting to rise, I got some relief after 6 hours of no pain pills.

And it got better.   Praise the Lord.  Because I don't know if it could have gotten worse.

Today I am so much better.  The chest tube is still draining a lot and as long as it is doing so, I have to stay here and keep the damned thing in.  It is very uncomfortable, just floating around in my body.  But it hurts less to sit up in a chair, so I've hardly been in the bed today. I'm coughing some, which is a good sign.  And with a good combo of pain meds, I am not hurting as much.

So I'm here.  At ARMC.  Just hanging out in my super sexy hospital gown and mesh underwear and my awesome chest tube and drainage tank.

I'm doing ok.  Just ready to get better. 

And cursing USA for choosing this weekend to not have an NCIS marathon. 

This was Marc's first week back to work, and it was a rough one. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all long, late days and he went from laying in a recliner (supporting his neck and back) to working at a desk with little back support.

When Marc came home Monday, he said his back hurt worse than it had since the surgery. So the rest of the week he took it a little easier - slept in a bit, not so long on the bike at the gym. His back continues to hurt, but it is manageable. There is still some numbness in Marc's neck and face, and it gets worse as the day goes on. But it doesn't stop him from any activities.

Thursday he went to the doctor, who was impressed with the recovery - only one other patient of his has gone back to work after two weeks. Marc will start physical therapy next week.

I fully expect that the Ironman will be back in top form very soon.

Update on Marc

Marc was "released" from his medically-induced house confinement Friday. He has already been to the gym three times to ride the stationary recumbent bike - it looks like this:

Marc is back at work today. I am hoping it doesn't wear him out.

Update on Marc

Since having surgery, Marc has really relied on his recliner. I brought it down from the man cave so he would have more neck/back support. The muscles in his neck and shoulders were (and still are) really sore. The first couple of days after surgery, Marc slept a lot, due to the painkillers and muscle relaxers. They knocked him out!

His neck and face were swollen, but that has gone down. The right side of his neck is numb, and he has the occasional muscle spasm in his chest and shoulders.

We have gotten out and walked a couple of miles for the past couple of days. Today he walked three miles, and it really wore the Ironman out.

Lullabelle has LOVED having Marc home and in the recliner. When he extends the footrest, she can lay between his legs to cuddle and nap.

How is Marc?

He is doing very well. He is tired and sore, and tends to take long, snore-y naps. But that's good. The pain pills he has are strong and he needs to sleep off the anesthia.

Our day started very early - we had to be at the hospital at 6am for his 7:30 surgery. They had him change into a gown and compressions socks. He tried to make it a sexy look.

Then a nurse took some blood and gave Marc some pills to relax. Can you tell that they had taken affect when I snapped this picture?

Once he was wheeled into surgery, I was taken to his room. at 8:30, a nurse called the room to tell me he was still in surgery and it was going very well. And at about 9:45, the doctor called the room to let me know the surgery was finished and it was successful. And hour later, they wheeled Marc in.

He was awake but not very aware. He doesn't remember much about those few hours. He talked to his parents to let them know he was okay and quickly fell asleep.

His surgeon made the incision on a neck crease, so the scar won't be so noticable. And they didn't use stitches or staples. It was glued with dermabond.

Thus far, we are very happy. Marc is doing better and his back doesn't hurt. YAY!

Whew. . .

Marc came through the surgery with flying colors. We are both home, tired and worn, but happy it is over. I'll post more tomorrow, when I can keep my eyes open.

Friday Tidbits

They are putting in our new countertops as I type. YIPPEE!!! Living without a kitchen sink is tougher than I thought it would be. I still have to do some re-grouting once everything is installed and maybe a little touch up paint. And we have to replace an outlet that was destroyed in the process.

Before they put in the countertops, I had to empty out the cabinets below, so nothing was damaged during the installation process. This was a great opportunity to clean the cabinets and reorganize. And I discovered that we had three almost-full bottles of Fabreeze and several bottles of kitchen cleaner under the sink.

Marc had his pre-op visit today, with surgery scheduled for 7:30am on March 5. That means we have to be at the hospital at 6am that day. Yuck. He will stay overnight and check out the next day, barring any complications.

And after surgery, Marc will be out of work for 2 weeks. Two weeks of not exercising. Two weeks of not driving or even riding in a car. Two weeks of rental movies and video games. Two weeks of driving me nuts, for which he has apologized in advance. :-)