Well, it is here. Time for the nissen fundoplication and mic-key gastronomy surgery. This morning started off early. We were up and going by 3:00am and nervous as can be. We arrived at Vandy at 6:00 and met with the anesthesiologist, surgeon, nurses and assistants. I had a million and one questions to ask. Some I wish I had not asked. Ignorance is bliss--right? Honestly, I even told Jeff we can still leave, they haven't started on him yet. Part of me was very serious about taking him and running.
We were told to expect John to have breathing issues during surgery and it is likely he will be in the ICU on a vent for sometime. His breathing likes to act up after most procedures. This was a huge concern for him.
Our first update came after about an hour into surgery. The nurse stated his vitals are normal and she will call with another update in another hour. Second update...about an hour later "Everything still going fine, Dr. Rauth still working and will call with another update." Then we waited over two long hours before we heard any word from his nurse or doctors. Jeff slept through every update, sure was wishing I could have done the same. I thought several times that I was going to have a full blown panic attack, because I just new something wasn't going right and that is why it was taking longer than expected. Finally, our name was announce to go to conference room 3.
We entered the conference room and waited anxiously for Dr. Rauth. As he began talking, he apologized for the time it took to complete the surgery. Then went on to explain when they opened him up he noticed something "odd". This something "odd" was called Morgagni's hernia and pretty large. We went on to learn that this is a rare hernia with and can be life threatening- 45-62% mortality rate. What if we had not done this I asked? He went on to explain all the testing we have already had would not pick it up because it is difficult to diagnose due to it's location. He said most doctors would see this as pneumonia on X-ray and would not suspect this hernia. Now--is this a God thing or what? Went in for a surgery I really didn't want him to have and a blessing I didn't know I would receive occurred. Anyway, he went on to complete the nissen fundoplication and g-tube surgery and it went as expected.
In recovery, John had rapid labored breathing (not unusual for him) and attempted to pull out the new g-tube and tape off his incisions. Needless to say, he was fighting mad. So, he is now in arm restraints--no-nos.
He is resting now and we will try to feed him in a couple of hours. Guess we will see how that goes.
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