Mom's Journal- Surgery through First Night in PCU

The week before my surgery, my mother gave me a journal at a surprise party my family threw for me. She would keep it during my surgery and time in the hospital, so I would have a record of what happened. Then, she would give it to me once I was released, and I would start using it.

If any of you have a loved one going in for major surgery and a long hospital stay, this is such an amazing gift. A lot of things I don’t remember very well, but my mom’s journal helps me. Also, after I was released, I used it to keep track of how many pills I was taking and when. I was on so many pain killers, this helped me not forget and overdose.

These are my mother’s journal entries. My notes are in brackets and italicized:

Wednesday, 1-14-09

4 a.m.- Mom braided hair to the best of her abilities

4:45 a.m.- Left for hospital

5:50 a.m.- Checked in and waiting!

6:10 a.m.- Wendy’s here :)

6:20 a.m.- Called into backroom for evaluation — weight, BP (116/69 :)), urine sample, etc. Also, take off all clothes and put on lovely hospital gown. Only one person at this time — she chose her Mom! [Mom was so happy I did this. It was funny. Of course I would pick my mom!]

Nurse came in and asked 100’s of ?s.

Oh now! No elastic bands in OR so the braids have to come out.

7:30- Got IV and met with Anesthesiologist. Everyone (Matt, Dad, Wendy) came into room.

7:35- Dr. Hostin arrived and talked a minute.

7:40 They took her back to surgery — after they gave her some happy meds.

7:45- Now we wait.

8:32- OR Nurse Tracy called and said surgery started at 8:27 and that she is resting comfortably.

10:00- Jayne and Grace came.

10:43- OR Nurse Tracy called and said things had been a “little wild” but they were about halfway through putting in the screws and would call every hour from now on (we had complained to Robin* and she had them call). I should have asked about “wild”. [she underlined “wild” three times.]

*Robin is Guest Services Coordinator.

11:45- Nancy called.

Her next stop after surgery is ICU Room 7. Nurse is Jamie. Charge Nurse is Gustavo.

10:55- Kelsey called.

11:00- Billie Boy asked about Meg.

11:36- OR Nurse Tracy called — all screws are in and now they will start the corrections. Everything is going fine. Two and a half to 3 hours longer.

11:45- Janet called Jayne.

Kelli and Carra have been texting Matt all morning. [I just got a little teary-eyed reading this. I love my friends!]

11:50- Gave Misty an update.

12:40- Francis (Grace’s mom) called Jayne.

12:50- Sheila called Jayne.

1:00- Barry called Jayne.

12:50- OR Nurse Tracy said they are completing instrumentation, then will close her up — about 1 hour. Said Megan is doing good.

1:45- OR Nurse Tracy called. They just finished adjusting her hardware. Now they are irrigating her wound and will start to close. Another hour!

2:15- All done!!!! Dr. Hostin came in. Everything went great. Her bones and spine were a lot stiffer than he thought they would be so that took longer. It was harder to straighten her out. Plus they took some pictures for her. He said we can see her in about 45 minutes. We should head to the third floor in 30 minutes.

2:20- Called Misty. M said Danielle called and said she was praying for Megan.

3:00- Went to see her in ICU (Matt, Wendy, Mom, Dad). She is very pale but looks good. She is coherent and sounds like herself (cute comments). She is in a lot of pain, though. She keeps hitting the morphine button. Dad was also hitting buttons trying to turn on the TV and some sort of alarm went off. The nurse had to come in and fix it. [Classic Dad! Ha!]

5:30 p.m.- Kelsey came to visit.

8:30 p.m.- Mom and Dad went to hotel for the night.

Wendy stayed for awhile. [This meant the world to me.]

Thursday, 1-15-09

Wednesday night was rough! Megan was in a lot of pain and was awake most of the night. Her breathing slowed to 4 times a minute whenever she went to sleep. The nurses and doctors are adjusting her meds and trying to help her feel better. Nurse Donna (a Dorothy type [Dorothy was my paternal grandmother]) helped her a lot. She stayed with Megan and talked to her all night. Megan asked her to say goodbye before she left when her shift was over — but Nurse Donna forgot and didn’t come. Megan is very sad!! [I cried when this happened. I loved my nurses so much.]

8 a.m.- Megan is in a lot of pain (10 on a scale of 1 to 10). She is eating ice chips. Matt, Wendy, Mom and Dad are here.

Thoughts about drugs…

• Morphine isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

• Valium and dilaudid are good. :)

Sat up in a chair from 2:20 to 3:20. While up the nurse braided her hair and the OT helped her brush her teeth. Megan was very uncomfortable sitting up — she wasn’t used to her back being straight. When it was time to get back in bed, she got a headache as she stood up. It went away when she lay down. A Physician’s Assistant from the doctor’s office came over night to check on her. He said she is okay and her meds for pain are probably making her lightheaded. He also said that during surgery, Dr. Hostin nicked the covering around the spinal cord. This was repaired in the OR. (Is this why the OR was “a little wild”??)

(Aside: ask about effects of this mishap and will it heal.)

PA said she should lie flat in bed for the rest of day.

4:00- Dr. Hostin came. Said she had a pinprick in the covering around her spine and spinal fluid leaked out during surgery. He said they tried to repair it, but that it might still be leaking. This would cause her headache she had when she stood up. He wants her to lie flat today and all day tomorrow. They will get her up tomorrow afternoon. If she gets a headache, he will get the radiologists to put a plug in her spine to release pressure. This would be like an epidural. If this happens she will be in the hospital 2 to 3 days longer. For now she has to stay in ICU at least another day.

8 p.m.- Kelsey, Rachel and Shantell came.

Dad spent the night.

Friday, 1-16-09

No more stinky Megan! She got a sponge bath this morning. Then we worked on a crossword puzzle. [Working the crossword puzzle was very interesting. I'd pass out mid words and mom would practically spell out all the answers for me. Anything to make me concentrate on anything other than the pain.]

The OT came in and Megan raised her arms and exercised a little — she is still lying flat in bed.

The internist (a doctor) came in and said all her insides were working good.

Uh Oh! The bed stopped working. It became very quiet and Megan’s mattress started to deflate (scary). Several nurses came in and worked on it. It would air up, then deflate. This happened several times. It is working fine now — but that was scary! [This was scary because I was supposed to lay flat and my bed kept sinking down in the middle. Additionally, it was worrisome, as I couldn’t bend at all or move well to prevent myself from falling in the depression it created.]

Some beautiful flowers were delivered, but she can’t have them in ICU. We’ll take them to the hotel later. They are from Oncor. [my work]

2:00- Her bed (the head) was tilted up slightly in preparation for her getting out of bed. So far so good. No headache.

2:30- Jeamy Molina and Catherine Cuellar came and stayed about 10 minutes. [Jeamy told me later that being in the hospital freaked her out & that I looked awful.]

Then Carol called the phone in the waiting room.

3:00- Up and into a chair. She brushed her teeth and her hair. This was hard — sitting up for one hour — but she did it. The best part is…no headache. So, she got the OK to leave ICU for a room in PCU (Progressive Care Unit). Her room number is 331. She won’t get as much attention here (plus it is noisier) but she will be able to start walking and learning how to take care of herself. Then she can go home. Yea!

Misty, Sheila, Erin, Ryan, and Sarah came while Megan was sitting in the chair. Janet came, also.

Kelsey came after work.

7:30- Her temperature is 98.9. The lowest in two days.

Everyone left by 9:00, then it was Megan and Mom. We turned the lights out and tried to sleep…They were coming in and doing things and checking things all night long. They wouldn’t give Megan the pain meds she wanted…said she couldn’t take too much or she would stop breathing.* Plus I thought they were a little rough with Megan and a lot rude. They definitely did not treat her with TLC. One of them emptied her catheter bag in the middle of the night and then couldn’t get it attached back to the bed, so she just laid it on the floor. I had another nurse come to fix it.

Meg finally was sleeping good and about 6 a.m. two technicians came in and woke her up to take x-rays. Megan was so mad!

*The nurse told her “to deal with it” when Megan complained of pain.

[That’s all for now. Mom wrote a lot. I’ll post the rest later.]