Surgery Monday

Information has been hard to come by today, so we’ve done a lot of waiting. The hospital launched a digital charting system at midnight that will streamline patient care in lots of ways, like making a doctor’s order instantly available instead of needing to live in a folder until someone finds and acts on it. 

The future state sounds fantastic; though getting there has been a challenge for everyone – technicians dealing with bugs, staff having their familiar methods disrupted while double-checking details to maintain patient care, and patients and families waiting through extra delays during a process that’s already complicated and time-consuming.

For us, it was a long evening in the ER waiting for a bed upstairs, a long night upstairs waiting for meds, and a long day waiting to speak to doctors about what they’ve learned and what they’re planning. Being loopy from lack of sleep didn’t help me be more patient. Fortunately, now we know Susan will have surgery on Monday to replace her shunt and resolve her hydrocephalus, the fluid build-up in her brain.
 
The scans seem to show a gradual build up of fluid over some time, though her recent tumor growth may have increased it. With her L-P shunt in place for over five years, we don’t know how long it’s been working poorly; but now it needs attention. Dr Bergsneider may choose to implant a ventricular (V-P) shunt this time, depending on how the fluid is collecting in her brain. Susan started some pre-op activities this afternoon: chest x-ray, blood work, and EKG. She also had an EEG to check her brain activity for seizures and follow up on her hospitalization over Christmas.

It’s a relief to come to the action phase of our visit, and a bigger relief to know Susan’s problem itself is actionable. I’m well aware we could have been facing the same symptoms due to a progressive tumor that’s not responding to treatment. We’re glad that’s not our battle today. 

In spite of Susan’s continued physical weakness and brain burden, she’s still sweet as ever in her wakeful times. We both have such peace; we know it’s from God and thank him for it. I found another beautiful nugget in his word this week: “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains.” (Psalm 54:4) We’re grateful as always for everyone’s prayers and expressions of care for us.

Another hospital observation:

When you need to renew your 24-hour permit in the parking structure below the 200 Building because you know from experience you will get a ticket when it expires, and you get in the elevator and press the “B1” button and the doors close but nothing happens and you press it again and again and still nothing happens and then the elevator goes to the 6^th floor and stops with the doors closed and none of the buttons you push are working and you become just a bit concerned, and then you press the “Emergency Help” button and the elevator voice lady asks if you’re stuck in an elevator and you say “yes” and then she asks if you need medical help and you say “Probably not for several hours” and she laughs and asks if you tried to go back to the first floor then you push “1” and the elevator starts moving while the elevator voice lady tells you it’s Saturday and the building is closed and elevator access is restricted, and then you thank the nice elevator voice lady as the doors open on back on the 1^st floor where you started in an apparently closed building – when that happens, you walk instead to the stairway to go renew your 24-hour permit and say to yourself, “What a silly elevator.”