Day 2 - on the mend, sew to speak...

Well today Meg is doing a lot better than yesterday. She got her IV and arterial lines taken out and was up walking around the ward. As expected, she still has a headache, though it could be due to the steroids they gave her after surgery which have caused her blood pressure sky rocket. Now they are giving her another drug to counter the steroids. Hopefully it will balance out soon. 

Some people will go to extraordinary lengths to achieve the best Halloween effects each year. You have to give Meg credit for coming up with the greatest scary scar ever. If only they had added two little knobs on her neck...

Happy Halloween!!

Day 1 - post op

Meg was sitting up when I visited her this morning. Although she tried to carry on a conversation, she was extremely tired and wanted to rest/sleep. She didn't get much, if any, sleep last night. I thought she looked good considering what she went through 24 hours ago. 

According to my VGH source, Meg was up this afternoon but is still suffering from a boomer of a headache and was not too chipper. I think she will be in NICU another night. It's a good place to be.

It's over...she is in NICU

I just got home from the hospital.  Meg is recovering in the neuro ICU. She is very groggy and just wanted to sleep. The twitch was not evident. I would say the procedure was a success! She will most likely be transfered to the neuro ward tomorrow. Thank goodness for a talented surgical team!

She is in good hands...

It was a beautiful morning...clear and crisp at 4:45 a.m. when we drove over to VGH. It's an ideal time to drive...not a lot of traffic.

Everything was flawless. We whipped through Admitting and were up in the peri-operatve area before 6. There Meg got into her little gown, had all her vital signs taken, had electrodes glued to her head and ears and was attached to an IV drip. Next up was a procedure which was developed at VGH....universal decolonization. Methylene Blue up the nostrils followed by two minutes of laser light times two.

Pretty slick! Then a visit from the anesthesiologist and the neurosurgeon and she was off....

Motherboard upgrade...

Tomorrow morning Meg and I will be at Vancouver General Hospital at 5:30 to get Meg checked in for her motherboard update. Specifically it will be microvascular decompression for the hemifacial spasm that she has been suffering from for the past 8 years. She has tried the Botox and drug treatments, both of which turned out to be bandaid efforts.

Only a month or so ago Meg went to see her physician, was fortunate to see a locum who realized that Meg should see a neurosurgeon, saw the neurosurgeon the next week, was fortunate to get a cancelation MRI, then got an earlier OR date than expected....hence the date in the morning. Some things just fall into place,eh? 

In preparation for a convalescence at home, Meg, not being one to sit idly, demolished her dark green bedroom last week, added a small wall to fill in a too large doorway, drywalled, sanded, painted it a bright cheery yellow, designed and constructed two dressers and a bookcase, installed Berber carpeting and a new leather sleigh bed. I painted a wall tattoo (0: The room looks spectacular! 

To cheer us up, Taegan was over for a sleepover last night. She is SO much fun!! Besides calling us Oma and Momi, to our surprise and delight, she has started calling us Meg and Marni. Then while watching TV she grabbed my hand with her left and Meg's hand with her right and sat between us, happy and content.

This afternoon Meagan gave Meg a very stylish short haircut. Tomorrow a preop swath will make it even shorter.

 

  

So we are currently bedded down in a friend's basement suite in Vancouver... awaiting a 4:30 a.m. series of alarm clocks on our phones and tablets. This chapter will continue in the morning....