Checked Out & Checked In

At sister's house in Citrus Heights

Dad checked out of the hospital...feeling LOTS better than he did when he arrived Monday.  Pain is better than when we four went to dinner last Friday...but his strength is still a bit low.  Which is WHY ...

...he checked in at a physical therapy skilled nursing facility.  How long, we don't know...long enough to get his strength back.  This is the same facility mom was at with her hip surgery back in 2014.  Dad and I picked this place for her, and Sandy and Patti picked this place for dad this time.  They do have good reviews...but none of them match up to the quality of the hospital...Sutter Roseville is a real good, friendly hospital.

In the meantime...Patti broke her foot while down in the Santa Barbara area this past week.  I'm afraid to post pictures...she is now wearing a boot.

Surgery Day --- All Went Well, Real Well

Here is a picture of mom taken while Marcia and I were on out last trip.  Her and dad went out to eat with my Aunt and a few cousins, and someone took this picture of her and posted on Facebook…where I took a copy for the blog.  Today was mom’s surgery day, which I wanted to share with everyone.

Above is a Google map image of the Sutter Roseville Medical Campus.  The outpatient surgery is the white building at the bottom.  But her day started in what they call “Building Two”, which is where they do their  mammograms.  They  placed a wire into the breast exactly where the doctor was to go in to remove the tumor. They call this procedure a Wire-localized lumpectomy.  Thank goodness there was a friendly face there to welcome us….

My niece, mom’s granddaughter, Robin works in the Radiology area, and came out and said hi to us all, and gave mom a big huge hug. We needed to be there by 11:15, which to mom means before 11, and by11:30 they took her in to place the wire. 

By noon she was over at the surgery center for her 1:30 surgical procedure.

By 1:30 she was all prepped, they kicked dad and my sister Sandy out of the room, and we all waited in the waiting room for the procedure to be over. They have a nice system where they give you a card with a private identification number on it, and a display screen shows the update as to what is going on.  It is all color coded…blue means prep time, green means surgery is taking place, orange means they are closing the surgery down, purple means she is in recovery.  By 2 pm Dr. Kim came out and said, “All done…she (mom) said she had a nice sleep and dreamed about Carmel.”
 

By 3 we were pulling onto the freeway for the ten minute ride home.  Called all my brothers, texted my other sister and my kids, called my aunt Florence, and texted my cousin Don.  As soon as we got home I got on mom’s facebook and posted a message to everyone to let them know she was fine, at home, and it all went well.

We are so thankful for the prayers, precious thoughts, and the advancements in the technology which produced todays results.  We all feel very blessed.  All is well…but I am sure mom will be a bit sore tomorrow.


Definition:  Wire-localized lumpectomy/ Segmentectomy/ Segmental mastectomy

In cases where the tumor cannot be felt by the surgeon (not palpable), a radiologist can help by placing a thin wire into the abnormal area to guide the removal of the affected area.  This is generally done several hours before surgery under local anesthesia by the radiologist.  The surgeon then removes the segment of the breast containing the tumor (or “lump”) and some of the normal tissue that surrounds it (called a “margin”).

Mom’s Surgery Went Well

My 84 year old mother had hip replacement surgery today (Monday) at the Sutter Roseville Medical Center.  I followed mom and dad over to the hospital at 5:30….she needed to be there by 6:15 and to her, that means 5:45, which is when we arrived.  By 6:30 I headed back to my sisters to pick up Marcia and we arrived back there by 7:45.  We went into pre-op to give her one last hug for the morning, and off to breakfast in the hospital cafeteria we went, while dad headed home for an hour or so himself.  By 9:45 dad was back, and around 10:00 he asked hospital staff how things were going….  “Oh, she is in recovery already, should be in a room by noon.”

By 11:30 we were waiting in her hospital room for her to show up, and before noon they wheeled her in.  After a hour’s visit Marcia and I headed back to the motorhome to get some rest, and we were back by 3:00 so that dad could go home and do the same.  In the meanwhile, we had contacted all of the family who were working or who are out-of-town.  My cousin Donald and his wife Sherri came by as Marcia and I were headed home for our break, and my brother Bob came by while dad was home for his break.  Mom had a few cat naps, was very responsive, and had one pain shot around 2:30.  She could not have any narcotics until after 8:30 pm due to the type of medication they used during surgery, but she did not seem to need more.  At 6:00 dad came back, and Marcia and I went to eat dinner.  By 7:30 we met dad in the parking lot so that I could store his little scooter away in his car and off to home we all went leaving mom there to get some needed sleep.

We know that mom has been in the thoughts and prayers of many of our friends and family, and for that, we are eternally grateful.  Thanks to all.  Now the hard, long process of rehab will start.  She will be in the hospital for a few days, then to rehab, then rehab at home.  This will be a long, hard process....prayers still appreciated for her health, strength, and ease of her pain which will surely be hard to endure.