Update Post Surgery

 Coming out of the fog and into the typhoon.

In the brief time that I have interacted with Dr. Lou, I have noticed that he is quick to listen and slow to speak.  He is a man who resides daily in a field of nothing but weighty and difficult questions but has not grown weary of truly empathizing with the fresh and raw concerns families bring to him.

I was able to talk to Dr. Lou right after the surgery and he said that things went as planned.  I knew going into the surgery he was a little apprehensive about the flap since she had had surgery in that area before.  So of course my first question was how was the tissue in her throat.  He paused and then said that he had to make it a little smaller than he would have liked, due to the scar tissue, but he felt confident that it would take.  He went into more detail about what he did in surgery related to his initial game plan.  

Shortly after that Tessa was wheeled out, more awake than her usual post-ops self, she reached her hand out to hold mine.  I grabbed it and whispered that I loved her, the surgery went as planned, and they did not have to touch the cartilage in her ear.  The surgery is done and this is now phase two of what I have been thinking about and preparing for for a while.  Packing heavy medicine, various stubborn phlegm-removing tools, tubing for suctioning, blenders for food, various eating bottles, syringes, replacement pillowcases, face cleaning supplies, various types of ice packs, and cloths for lots of fluids.  I had no idea what to expect so you prepare for the worst. I have been telling Allison these past few days that I have never thought about food so much in my entire life.  Processing what this picky little eater can and will eat in a foreign country has been consuming.

We were quickly whisked off to her hospital room where we were greeted by 6 no-nonsense nurses who got us situated.  It was kind of weird because this is usually where her mom and I usually step in as caretakers.  My job was now to get out of the way and just chuckle a little bit.  What a blessing.  There were lots of questions and minute-by-minute use of Google translate trying to understand what each one of us was saying.  Once they got her situated and moved out it was time for Tessa to rest.  

The evenings are usually a little rough after surgeries, as it was last night.  Post surgeries we battle with pain, blood, a clean mouth, and most of all phlegm that restricts breathing while napping and sleeping.  As I am writing this next to Tessa I can hear her struggling in her sleep to breathe due to the phlegm. With this surgery, she has three incisions into her gut and hip.  Her hip incision is causing her a lot of pain when she walks to the restroom.  Her throat is also hurting a lot as a result of her intubation tube.  This is what you can specifically pray for now.  

Our next few days will consist of cleaning our mouth and face, suctioning, making adjustments in bed, a face-time with the family in the COMPLETE opposite time zone, drinking small amounts of fluids in syringes,  suctioning, making frequent trips to the restroom, signing, spelling her needs in sign language, getting frustrated with dad's lack of knowledge in fingerspelling, cleaning q-tips in throat, crushing pills and administering medicine through various concoctions every few hours and taking as many cat naps as possible.  

For the next week, the last two paragraphs will be rinse and repeat.  I will try to update on any changes that happen this week.

Sorry, no pictures