Thursday, September 24, 2009

Surgery today

Update: Nikki is out of surgery and doing well. The surgeon found two areas of her small bowel that had banded together. Once he fixed this he was able to see air pass through below the area seen on CT scan where no air had been seen below. He said he felt good about the surgery. They also placed a smaller NG tube in her nose which she said feels more comfortable. I got to talk to her for a few minutes and it was so nice to hear her voice! She was in some pain still but using her morphine pump! Thanks for the prayers and we'll keep you posted!
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Sorry for the lack of updates on my sister, but I was waiting until we knew more. She had a CT scan this am that showed absolutely NO improvement over the past week of being NPO, having an NG and IV fluids. The surgeon (Dr. P) is still not convinced that surgery is the best option, but considering the fact that nothing has changed my sister is willing to take that risk.

Because she has had no improvement, they are wondering if she has some adhesions rather than an just an ileus. The adhesions could have been from when she was sick before her very 1st surgery and her abdominal contents were so swollen and everything was irritated. The surgeon is leery to do surgery because it is so soon since her last surgery and he is not sure what the adhesions will look like after. This could be a risky surgery or a "quick fix."

Nikki has been such a trooper and has an amazingly positive attitude throughout this all! She is however, starting to feel very uncomfortable from having the NG in for a whole week! Her ears, nose, and throat are very sore and irritated. They are going to switch the NG to her other nare so that should help with a little pain and hopefully she won't even need it that much longer!

They are unable to do this surgery laproscopically because of the location, so she is going to be cut open in the same spot as before. Dr. P (the original surgeon and wonderful physician who has been Nikki's advocate this whole time) is going to perform the surgery.

My dad is still out there with Nikki and my mom is hoping to head out there next week and relieve my dad. We are fortunate to have had a family member with her all the time to care for her and be an advocate so her husband can continue working during the day!

Please pray for her safety during surgery, and for the surgeons. Pray the Lord will guide their hands and decisions and that this will "heal" her finally. Please pray for safety over her body as she heals from another surgery so quickly after the first one. She does still have her PICC line so she can receive IV fluids and medications through it.

Thank you all for your support and prayers! We know God is in control and we are thankful for that!

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