A picture is worth a thousand words....

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Lassie is taking a bite out of Lyme for Heather

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Surgery is over, and it was more than anticipated

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  I want to thank the Surgeon and medical team for taking care of my sweet Heather.  In a perfect world, surgery would have been under an hour, go in, peak around, make a quick fix, and close up the tiny incisions.   Heather's surgery took 3 1/2 hours (very long hours) The surgeon went in laparoscopically, but after examining her small bowels, he discovered extensive scarring (adhesions) throughout. To quote him, "I removed lots of scar tissue, but there was no clear area that I could see where the obstruction was.  I wish I could have found a specific area for concern, but there was scar tissue everywhere."  Given the amount of scarring, it has been building for a very long time, (back to infancy) they had to make an additional 8-inch incision to assist with the repair.   Fortunately, they didn't have to resection or cut out any intestine - that was amazing.  Sadly, he said the entire small bowels were covered in adhesions and there were lots of place...
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June 20th - still in the hospital and may go home in a day or two

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It has been a long few days for Heather.  She continues to heal, but still has significant pain.  In addition, her poor veins keep blowing.  They can no longer use her left arm, and her right arm looks like a pin cushion.  OUCH OUCH OUCH.  Fortunately, they call in a specialist to insert her IVs using doppler scanning to make sure they find/hit the best vein.  Yesterday, they had to reinsert within 4 hours after placing a new IV. For the first time in 12 days, she had a popsicle. Grape to be specific, that is considered clear liquids.  Who knew?   She had choices between cardboard Jello, broths, juices, sodas (she avoided yesterday due to carbonation), and popsicles.  For a few minutes, she had some relief. We are hopeful that today she can try soft foods!!!!   Yesterday, there was a fast-moving thunder and lightning storm that moved through the DC area.  Sadly. her hospital lost power for 3 hours. Yes, you read that correctly. ...
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June 13 - A path forward ........Surgery today

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Heather was admitted to the hospital on the 7th, for an intestinal obstruction and on the 11th things started looking up.  Thursday at 6am, they pushed the contrast solution through her NG tube, then clamped the tube to allow the contrast to work its way through the intestines.  The goal is for the tube to stay clamped for 6 hours, then they do imaging.   Sadly, 2 1/2 hours into the test, she started vomiting, so the suction was hooked back up.  The doctors hinted at surgery, but they needed to do more imaging and see how she progressed through day/night. Thursday afternoon things improved a bit for Heather and I was hopeful surgery could be avoided.  However, today, the surgeon just informed Heather that they need to do exploratory surgery.  Although there have been improvements, she still shouldn't be so nauseous and in pain, and the output from her tube is higher than it should be given no ice chips for the last two days.   My tough Heather is ready...
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