Here are the two emails that I sent to our family members in the last couple of day about the surgery. They are in reverse order. :)
Hi again everyone,
We went to the dr. again today to have the drain removed and the bandage replaced. Everything looks good and the swelling is down so that is encouraging. She also told us more about what they did.
They put three small incisions on the wrist for the arthroscopy and a longer maybe 5” incision on the underside of her arm to put in the plate. She said they not only found a tear in the ligament which they repaired, but the cartilage was torn so they had to remove some of that to repair it as well. She said it is good we did the surgery when we did, since the damage would have only gotten worse. They then put a 5 or 6 inch plate in with 6 screws to support the bone as it heals back where they shortened it. Everything looks good and she said there should be no problem in the recovery. Now we are working on getting a letter from the dr. and a copy of the xray so that they will let us through security at the airport. :)
As far as recovery. She said within a day or two the pain should go down a lot. She has a removable splint that she will wear for 6 weeks, but should be able to type and write after only two weeks. The dr. wants to see an xray at 6 weeks and then see Jen again at 3 months or so. After that visit, if everything has gone well, she will be given the freedom to use her wrist for heavier lifting and things. The plan is then to come back in one year to have the plate removed.
The trip to the hospital was hard on Jen this morning. She was really tired and then got nauseous. Actually she threw up in the taxi on the way home. Thankfully I had a plastic bag with so we were able to put it there, unfortunately the bag I chose had a couple of pin holes in it so the vomit ran right back out. In Manila I would have just chucked it out the door – end of problem, but Here in Singapore – let’s just say I am not too fond of caning! Anyways, we left the taxi driver a big tip and helped him clean it up. She is feeling much better now and had a good nap earlier.
Thanks for all your continued prayers.
From: Stephen Hagen [mailto:shagen@emailworld.biz] Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 3:59 PMTo: 'shagen@emailworld.biz'Subject: Jen's surgery
Hello everybody,
Well, we just got out of the hospital a few minutes ago and we are back at the apartment they have for us. Jen is laying down trying to get some sleep. Hospitals are not the place to do that!
Surgery took about 3 hours yesterday, we will get more specifics tomorrow when we go back to see the surgeon and have the bandage replaced and the drain removed, but she said everything went well. We do know that she found a tear in the ligament and was able to repair it and then after shortening the ulna she said that it adequately tightened the ligament and did not need to do anything further. She said she did have to do some other work to the bone or the joint, but I don’t remember what she said it was and she said she will explain it more tomorrow.
When they brought Jen back to her room she was coming out of the general anesthetic and that was very rough on her. Thankfully after about 6-8 hours we were able to get the pain and the nausea under control. It is obviously still very painful, but managable and she only vomited one time. This is a real praise since that had been very difficult in the past.
The night was long and sleepless, but we are very greatful (or at least Jen was :) I would have slept better in a bed, but I really am glad I was able to take care of her) that I was able to stay in the chair by her bed. The nurses said a couple of times that I would have to leave soon, but it really would have been tough on Jen. She has one arm that had surgery and the other had a IV that was not only painful, but the connections for the saline drip and the pain killer made it very unwieldy besides.
Thankfully through the night Jen’s medicine was fairly well regulated and the pain and nausea were mostly under control, but between the uncomfortableness, the beeps and buzzes, and senile old chinese woman in the neighboring bed who talked to herself, we didn’t get much sleep. After talking to the surgeon this morning, we all agreed that it would be best if she could check out and get some rest.
Anyway, she is out and resting now. They have her on a pain medicine patch that will dispense medicine for 3 days instead of the IV meds. We are praying that the transition from the IV meds to the patch medication goes well. The patch takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to take effect, so if it begins to take effect at 12 hours it should coincide perfectly with the IV meds wearing off.
Thank you all for your continued prayers, God is definitely answering. Jen is in very good spirits today, but very ready for some sleep. We will try to keep everyone informed as her recovery progresses.
Steve
We went to the dr. again today to have the drain removed and the bandage replaced. Everything looks good and the swelling is down so that is encouraging. She also told us more about what they did.
They put three small incisions on the wrist for the arthroscopy and a longer maybe 5” incision on the underside of her arm to put in the plate. She said they not only found a tear in the ligament which they repaired, but the cartilage was torn so they had to remove some of that to repair it as well. She said it is good we did the surgery when we did, since the damage would have only gotten worse. They then put a 5 or 6 inch plate in with 6 screws to support the bone as it heals back where they shortened it. Everything looks good and she said there should be no problem in the recovery. Now we are working on getting a letter from the dr. and a copy of the xray so that they will let us through security at the airport. :)
As far as recovery. She said within a day or two the pain should go down a lot. She has a removable splint that she will wear for 6 weeks, but should be able to type and write after only two weeks. The dr. wants to see an xray at 6 weeks and then see Jen again at 3 months or so. After that visit, if everything has gone well, she will be given the freedom to use her wrist for heavier lifting and things. The plan is then to come back in one year to have the plate removed.
The trip to the hospital was hard on Jen this morning. She was really tired and then got nauseous. Actually she threw up in the taxi on the way home. Thankfully I had a plastic bag with so we were able to put it there, unfortunately the bag I chose had a couple of pin holes in it so the vomit ran right back out. In Manila I would have just chucked it out the door – end of problem, but Here in Singapore – let’s just say I am not too fond of caning! Anyways, we left the taxi driver a big tip and helped him clean it up. She is feeling much better now and had a good nap earlier.
Thanks for all your continued prayers.
From: Stephen Hagen [mailto:shagen@emailworld.biz] Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2008 3:59 PMTo: 'shagen@emailworld.biz'Subject: Jen's surgery
Hello everybody,
Well, we just got out of the hospital a few minutes ago and we are back at the apartment they have for us. Jen is laying down trying to get some sleep. Hospitals are not the place to do that!
Surgery took about 3 hours yesterday, we will get more specifics tomorrow when we go back to see the surgeon and have the bandage replaced and the drain removed, but she said everything went well. We do know that she found a tear in the ligament and was able to repair it and then after shortening the ulna she said that it adequately tightened the ligament and did not need to do anything further. She said she did have to do some other work to the bone or the joint, but I don’t remember what she said it was and she said she will explain it more tomorrow.
When they brought Jen back to her room she was coming out of the general anesthetic and that was very rough on her. Thankfully after about 6-8 hours we were able to get the pain and the nausea under control. It is obviously still very painful, but managable and she only vomited one time. This is a real praise since that had been very difficult in the past.
The night was long and sleepless, but we are very greatful (or at least Jen was :) I would have slept better in a bed, but I really am glad I was able to take care of her) that I was able to stay in the chair by her bed. The nurses said a couple of times that I would have to leave soon, but it really would have been tough on Jen. She has one arm that had surgery and the other had a IV that was not only painful, but the connections for the saline drip and the pain killer made it very unwieldy besides.
Thankfully through the night Jen’s medicine was fairly well regulated and the pain and nausea were mostly under control, but between the uncomfortableness, the beeps and buzzes, and senile old chinese woman in the neighboring bed who talked to herself, we didn’t get much sleep. After talking to the surgeon this morning, we all agreed that it would be best if she could check out and get some rest.
Anyway, she is out and resting now. They have her on a pain medicine patch that will dispense medicine for 3 days instead of the IV meds. We are praying that the transition from the IV meds to the patch medication goes well. The patch takes anywhere from 12 to 24 hours to take effect, so if it begins to take effect at 12 hours it should coincide perfectly with the IV meds wearing off.
Thank you all for your continued prayers, God is definitely answering. Jen is in very good spirits today, but very ready for some sleep. We will try to keep everyone informed as her recovery progresses.
Steve
1 comment:
Missing you guys and looking forward to when you come over this way with the fam =+) . . . hugs to everyone,
Bethany for us 4
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