Surgery Day

No words can describe today. So if our followers can stick with it and handle the pictures, here is how the day went:

1:30 a.m. – I wake up and struggle to go back to sleep. The alarms are set to wake us in two hours.

3:00 – I wake up from a half sleep to hear Ryan moving around. Apparently he couldn’t sleep either. He starts his morning shower and second required body sterilization. This is for the surgery, not for COVID. He had to shower and sterilize before bed too. He was required to use clean wash clothes and towels each time. We also had to change the bed sheets before going to sleep.

3:45 – Ryan is done sanitizing but is now having myoclonic jerks. Go figure. He didn’t sleep well, is stressed, and has had to be off of his supplements all week. He takes a rescue med and his morning meds.

4:30 – We are at the hospital about a half hour early. We had our temperatures taken and received our hospital approved masks. Now we wait for someone on the surgical floor. We can’t find anyone yet. Maybe at 5:00.

5:10 – They are getting Ryan set up in the room. Once he is set up I can go back and sit with him until they take him into surgery. They have the surgery room blocked until 2:30. What?! Nine hours from now?! I realize from talking to the nurse that the whole time is not actually surgery time. Rather, they will do scans through the process to make sure everything is in place correctly. I am assured that once he goes into surgery they will call me every two hours with updates and I will get to talk to the surgeon face to face when everything is completed.

6:15 – I am finally back with Ryan in pre-op. He’s looking quite lovely with compression socks on, an IV in his arm, and betadine in his nose.

7:00 – Met the nurse who will be in the operating room. They won’t know how many needles they will use until they start. Ryan will be under anesthesia from the time he goes back to the operating room. They will still need to intubate him and do all of the other necessary prep work while he is under but will call me when procedure actually begins and then every two hours after. The best part of talking to the nurse was when she thanked Ryan for having his hair buzzed. Oh, and both of us getting warm blankets to wrap up in while we wait. Ryan and I are expecting another hour before they move him. The surgeon and anesthesiologist still need to stop by. Plus they are still waiting on the room to be ready.

8:21 – We have seen all of the doctors and they took Ryan back about 15 minutes ago. After everything this morning I had to get coffee and food (mainly coffee) to prepare me for the rest of the day. The day’s schedule is still very unknown. As we learned earlier, the amount of probes inserted will depend on what the surgeon decides at that time. In between inserting the probes, they have to scan Ryan’s head to make sure everything looks good. The whole thing could be finished as early as 11:30 (3 hours from now) or as late as 2:30 (6 hours from now). Ryan will be under anesthesia the entire time. That might be the part that scares me the most.

11:00 – I spent the past couple hours taking my mind off of things through work. I attended meetings via my computer. Even before COVID I was equipped to work on the road if needed. Today it’s coming in handy. My workmates were surprised I was in the meetings but like I said to them, “what else am I going to do? Sit in the waiting room wringing my hands until he’s out?” In the middle of my first meeting my cell phone rang with the hospital on the caller ID. It was the OR nurse apologizing that she forgot to call when they started the actual surgery. Turns out they started inserting needles/probes around 9. She reported that Ryan was doing great. Whew!

11:35 – Ryan is out of surgery. I am now waiting to talk to the surgeon to get the specifics. I won’t get to see Ryan until they transfer him to ICU. Hopefully that’s soon. I can’t wait to see him.

11:45 – That was quick…already saw the surgeon. They found places of interest from the beginning due to abnormal brain activity. Lucky number 13 needles/probes now in his brain. He will spend the next few days in ICU to monitor for a seizure. Then more decisions to be made.

1:45 p.m. – The past two hours have been spent notifying everyone of Ryan’s progress. I am overwhelmed by the support we have received. In the meantime, I am ready to see my husband! Yet I wait even longer.

2:30 – Finally was able to see Ryan. He was still in the surgery recovery and about to be moved to his room on the ICU. He will stay on the ICU while they monitor him and get the information they need. He complained of pain. He said he didn’t expect it to be so bad. Hopefully once he sleeps off the anesthesia and gets some food in his system he will feel better. I beat him to the ICU but I think he should be in and settled in his new temporary room by now. Time to go visit again.

4:05 – Poor guy. He’s in pain. He’s nauseous. He is falling asleep while trying to eat something. Given that he hasn’t eaten in about 24 hours, he would probably be better off having food in his stomach. I’m sure by tomorrow he should be feeling better. At least that’s what I keep telling both of us. I’m trying to get myself to believe it too.

5:35 – Ryan is finally sleeping. He wakes up every now and then and tells me his head isn’t hurting as much. There is not much longer for visiting hours. I’m going to hang out until he gets a chance to eat (I just ate cafeteria food for dinner). Oh, and perfect timing, his food just arrived. Once he eats I’ll head out and let him rest. Maybe I’ll get some rest too. It’s been a long day for both of us.