Surgery

We went home on Thursday night because the hospital had no beds. After a very short night, we (Dennis, James and I) arrived at the appointed time and started the paper trail that would follow us for the next week. We were taken, by turn, into the staging area where Dennis changed into his surgical attire. James was good comic relief with the snide comments about the classic lack of coverage of typical hospital haute couture. Dennis met with the entire surgery team before the procedure and he walked to the surgery suite and was told to "crawl up on that table"!



James and I proceeded to the waiting area where we were given a sticker with the surgeon's name, a locker, a pager (like Texas Roadhouse) and strict instructions not to leave the area without informing the matron at the front desk of our whereabouts. We promised to comply. We deposited our gear and headed for breakfast. When we returned we noticed the "WiFi" signage, but alas we didn't bring the laptop.....but we did find two computer stations and from those is where the day-of updates originated. James promptly fell asleep and I stayed busy with e-updates and telephone calls. The 90-minute-update-nurse who would trolled the waiting area with reports was a welcomed site. She informed us on things like..."the procedure started at 8:38am" and "the site is ready" and "they have the kidney off of the ice". Just before 12:00 noon our pager announced that the head surgeon was coming. We waited and he didn't really tell us much. The questions I asked were met with gruff rhetorical questions and impertinence...but we hoped what this fellow lacked in bedside manner was countered with expertise with the knife and suture! The demeaning conversation only lasted about 15 minutes and we were dismissed to find some lunch and then move to the 4th floor. Yes sir!



We did, indeed, get lunch and made the wonderful calls that all had gone well and Dennis was not headed for glory! To say it was a relief would be small, but James and I (and actually Dennis) did not feel panic or anxiety. We have to give glory to the Living God and all of the many prayers that have been offered on Dennis (and our) behave for the past 3 years from, literally, around the world!! It was just amazing.



About 2 hours later we got our first glimpse of Dennis. I warned James that he would probably look like "death" and to not be shocked by his appearance. I couldn't have been more wrong. He looked great and that's what James said, "He looks better now that before the surgery." It was true. Dennis doesn't remember much about that day, but he looked healthy and didn't act like he was in that much pain. He didn't lay on the auto-dispense pain medication button and actually talked to us quite a bit (see previous comment). We decided to go home about 11:00 pm and get some rest with the warning from the staff that "tomorrow would be the worst day...with the adjustments to the anti-rejection drugs that had been started, the steroids and the surgery itself." So we headed for home to steel ourselves for what lay ahead. September 19, 2008