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Posting from the Hospital.


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It has been a long day. Nothing went as planned although everyone was doing their best. They did a great job checking her in and getting her through pre-op. Then the changes started piling up.

 

She was supposed to get a sedative, local block and then general. Dr. said the block would not cover enough territory so she had to have an epidural. Not happy but ok.

 

Then she was supposed to get a bikini cut and he said that the mass was too big and the blood loss would be too great taking it out that way. So now she has a vertical cut. I haven't seen it yet. He said he thinks it looks good and that if she stays out of the sun it should be barely noticable by next year.

 

He said it turned out to be a complicated and difficult surgery. He removed a Shwannoma. It was not cancerous but it was well connected to the bowel. He had to resect quite a bit of bowel and she lost a lot of blood. He said these are very rare. He is a specialist that worked at the Cleveland Hospital (great teaching/training hospital) and he had only seen three in his life. He only knows of about 15 documented ones. He said not quite rare enough to get a paper out of it but great experience for him. I guess that makes me happy for the next person who comes along with one.

 

Things kind of went downhill from there. She woke up from general screaming and crying from the pain. :001_huh: And it really didn't get a whole lot better for quite a while. They got her to her room about an hour and a half after surgery and she was still crying when whe got there. This child shrugs off pain and doesn't cry. They gave her something in her IV and she felt a little better for awhile so I left to run to my other dd's house to get my luggage.

 

I was gone about a hour. I dosed off on the couch. She was in so much pain that she complained to several nurses that the epi wasn't working and they basically blew her off. So she called her dad (in TN). He called my other dd (in GA) which woke me up roaring like a mother bear. My eldest dd called the head nurse while I headed to the hospital. When I got there she was still crying but they had already had the anathesiologist increase the epi, administered addtional pain and nausea meds and were cleaning up the mess.

 

She now has the head charge nurse on her case and they are watching her closely. I am on the visitors couch in the room and will probably try to go to sleep soon as she seems to be sleeping pretty solidly now. Well, we just went through another hour of pain and nausea and are both trying to sleep now. Will post more tomorrow.

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:grouphug:

 

I woke much the same way from my hysterectomy. They didn't want to give me pain meds because my blood pressure dropped so badly during surgery. My husband and mother backed my gyn/surgeon into a corner and bawled at him until he agreed to give me something for the pain (I was shaking and starting to feel like I was going to pass out.) He did hang around and watch my monitor for a long time after they gave me the meds. I hope she is resting more comfortably now, I think sometimes staff forgets that they may have SEEN a lot of this, but not lived it. It hurts.

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Pain should never be ignored. I woke up from my hysterectomy saying the word "pain" over and over again in the recovery room. Thankfully, a quick-thinking nurse was paying attention or I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. The suture on my uterine artery had ruptured. My pain was because I was bleeding out into my abdomen. Doctor told me that if that nurse had been even ten minutes later in reacting, I wouldn't have made it. Do NOT let them ignore pain.

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So thankful that it wasn't cancer! And so sorry your baby girl is hurting so much. A week from now she will be feeling much, much better.

 

Until then, pull your mother bear claws out of your pockets and keep them handy at the hospital! :D

 

Having had a hysterectomy, I'm familiar with the almost unbearable post-op uterine pain. It's much worse than having a laparoscopy. Hang in there.

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Hugs and prayers for a swift recovery. I 2nd the need for someone to be with her 24/7 as a advocate for her until released. My mom just got out of the hospital and we arranged it so that someone in the family was with her at all times. The nurses don't always answer right away and there are things that are simpler for a family member to deal with rather than get the nurse. You'll find more interruptions at night - they like to draw blood, check blood pressure and do other tests in the middle of the night. The patient gets more sleep during the day than at night. And nausea medication is a wonderful thing - she doesn't have to endure being sick along with the pain.

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Ok, today they determined that for whatever reason, the epi was not working for her and removed it today. Now she is on iv meds for pain and nausea. She has got up out of bed, made a round of the ward, went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, sit up for a bit, had a couple of bites to eat and is sleeping now. They drs. say she is looking great and the day nurse staff seems to be much more attentive. My relief is headed in now so I can go get a nap. Thanks for all the prayer and warm wishes.

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Ok, today they determined that for whatever reason, the epi was not working for her and removed it today. Now she is on iv meds for pain and nausea. She has got up out of bed, made a round of the ward, went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, sit up for a bit, had a couple of bites to eat and is sleeping now. They drs. say she is looking great and the day nurse staff seems to be much more attentive. My relief is headed in now so I can go get a nap. Thanks for all the prayer and warm wishes.

 

Yay! Thanks for the good update!

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Poor, poor girl! That sounds like an awful experience. I'm glad to she is feeling better now.

 

I had to look up Schwannoma. I would expect surgery to cause a lot of pain, but maybe it was worse because this type of tumor involves nerves.

 

from Wiki: a benign nerve sheath tumor composed of Schwann cells, which normally produce the insulating myelin sheath covering peripheral nerves.

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Ok, today they determined that for whatever reason, the epi was not working for her and removed it today. Now she is on iv meds for pain and nausea. She has got up out of bed, made a round of the ward, went to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, sit up for a bit, had a couple of bites to eat and is sleeping now. They drs. say she is looking great and the day nurse staff seems to be much more attentive. My relief is headed in now so I can go get a nap. Thanks for all the prayer and warm wishes.

 

:grouphug: Glad to hear she is doing better!

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What a great turnaround! I am so sorry she had such a rough day yesterday. It is very hard to see our children in pain, and it does sound like hers was excruciating.

 

But overall, the news is good - successful removal of a complex non-cancerous tumor. Good, good, good.

 

I strongly agree that hospitalized patients need advocates.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug: to you, Kids. Hope you get rested up, too.

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