Recovery - Day 2

As some of you may know; a couple of hours after the last post; Pam had some problems with pain control and nausea. The morphine was not co-operating with Pam. She suddenly had lots of severe pain. She felt like she had pins and needles sticking in her body all over. Also many parts of her body that weren't supposed to were getting numb, such as her face. It was a very rough night and most of the day today.

She ended up having them remove the epidural and switching to a different non-morphine med. This is working much better now. While she still has pain in the spot where the incision is; it has gone down to a 5 from a 9 or 10 on a scale of 1-10. Also, a pain in her chest that developed earlier today has gone away and the x-rays were negative thankfully. The numbness and nausea have gone away as well. This new medicine is making her extremely sleepy and she has been catching little cat naps most of the day.

Pam has now stood up and sat in a chair for the second time today. This time was easier than last time although this task really makes her tired even more.

She is now on a liquid diet as opposed to just ice.

Tomorrow morning could bring short walks as well as some solid food.

Thanks for everyone's continued support and prayers.

I am blessed!

I am back at the hospital and typing the below for Pam (her words)......


Thank you for all your kind words and prayers. I surely could not have done this without knowing each one of you was thinking of me today.

Look forward to seeing you all when I am outta here.

I will write more updates tomorrow.

P.S. Pam forgot to mention she is stealing ice from her ice pack and made me put her ear rings in. Imagine that!

Good night. Love you all.

Recovery

Pam is back in her room and is extremely tired. She will probably be sleeping the rest of the day/evening according to the nurses. She MIGHT start feeling better later tonight. Bill, Carol, and I have left for the day to allow her to get some good sleep.

I can only imagine how tough this is since Pam is the strongest person I know and she is on a lot of pain killers and had to ask for more. Not sure I could handle it. And not only can Pam handle the pain; she looks beautiful in doing it. Bill, Carol, and I are amazed at how great she looks as well as how well she has handled all of this.

For today she is on a strict 50 cc: an hour ice cube limit---no water or food yet.

She has her laptop with her in her room so she may start leaving the posts from here on out once she regains some strength....possibly later tonight.

Love you Pam and I will see you in the morning if not before that!!!!

SUCCESS.....Pam 1; Cancer 0!!!!!!

Great news from the Dr. even though it took an extra 1hr. 45 min.

Pam is in recovery now so it will be approx. 45 minutes or more before we can see her.

They were able to take only 1/3 of her kidney instead of all of it which is great news. This means that should something happen to her other kidney later in life; this one should basically be able to act on its own as well.

The mass that was removed was frozen and examined and it was def. cancer which was very against the odds due to her age and health etc. Due to the relatively small size due to early detection; she has a 95-97% recovery rate and a 1-3% chance of recurrence.

Now I know part of the reason Pam is such a good athlete (besides her will); her lung was 1 rib longer than the average so they had to move that out of the way during the procedure before moving it back and refilling it with oxygen. This is part of what led to the procedure taking a little longer.

Pam should be released in 3-5 days but we will keep you posted as we see her in her room. Until then; it is a small liquid only diet and rest for the rest of today. Tomorrow we will attempt food and short walking distances.

Thanks for everyone's well wishes and love today.

PAM WINS, CANCER LOSES!!!!!

Bill, Carol, and I will be in the cafeteria eating and relaxing until we can see her at which point we will update you more.

Love,
Ryan

Surgery "Closing"

Just got a phone call from the operating room that surgery is "closing" and that it won't be long at all at this point.

No other news yet but I would imagine we will have the doctor coming to keep us in the loop very shortly.

Check back very soon!!!!

P.S. Just before that; I got off the phone with one of our top wedding reception spots and they will continue to hold the date for us. Date and location to come in the future (from Pam).

Surgery Update....."Going Well"

Sitting in the waiting room and Bill and Carol are reading (Carol is determined to finish her cat book and Bill is reading tech magazines).

Just got an update that there was a phone call from OR Suite 14 (the operating room). "It will take a while longer but everything is going well so far." The receptionist that took the call didn't have any further details such as if they are still taking 2/3 of the kidney or the whole kidney out.

P.S. Edwards has a really nice cafeteria and surgery waiting area!!! On a side note; I think you have to have a PHD just to work the fancy coffee/hot chocoate machine. It is pretty full in the waiting area right now.

See you all again soon.

Successful Pre-Op....Surgery begins!

Pam had an early morning and was up at 4 so we could be here at the hospital by 5:30. She is done with Pre-op stuff and has been very calm and relaxed and in good spirits so far.

Bill and Carol arrived before 7 and are doing well also.

Pam just went in to surgery a half hour ago and Bill, Carol and I are in the cafeteria having breakfast and coffee.

Stay tuned as we should know more in 2.5 hours as the plan is still to try and remove 2/3 of the kidney at this point, although they said it will be tough and we may have to end up removing the whole kidney.

Thanks to everyone (Pam's friends and my friends as well) who sent cards, emails, phone calls, and Facebook messages yesterday and last night. We are truley blessed to have so many caring friends and relatives and such a large support network.

See you all again in a few hours.