All is well, as far as I know.

This is a post surgery update. As I begin this post it is almost 9:30 Friday evening. I was getting out of major surgery yesterday at 1:30. Medical technology is amazing. I had robotic surgery to remove my uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and ovaries. Check this out: the term for the surgical procedure of removing all of a woman's ovaries and fallopian tubes is bilateral salpingooopherectomy. When the operating room nurse told us that yesterday both Superman and I were in nerd heaven.

I'm very tired. This post might not hold together really well. I took my pain meds about half an hour ago. This is not sober blogging. There are things I wish to say, and will say, but probably not tonight.

I was released from hospital about 12:30, less than 24 hours after I'd been in surgery. And I feel amazingly good all this considered. I'm sore and stiff, as if I was shaken up in a car wreck recently. My neck muscles are sore. What's up with that?

I have five small incisions in my belly, and only one of them hurts. It hurts plenty enough for the others. Moving is a delicate operation. I'm so fat that when I stand up my stomach sags, dragging down the tissues that were disturbed. The more I move around, though, the better I feel, generally. I'm supposed to take it real easy for the next two weeks, not lift anything over 10 pounds (I'm saying less than 10 lbs to begin with), not drive, etc. And I'm OK with that. The 1.5 hour trip home from the hospital was ambitious. Certainly doable, but ambitious.

There is more I want to say about what the doctor found and what kind of follow-up we need to do. Right now though I am so tired I'm gonna quit now. Stay tuned.

Diva in the spotlight

Here's my baby girl as we sat in the waiting room to be called back to get prepped for surgery. She was still pretty excited about all the drama. I made her wear a night gown to the surgery center. She was not amused, but when I told her "Oh, wear whatever you want, I don't care." she put on the night gown. Kids. 
Here she is on the gurney waiting to go into surgery. The surgeon and the anesthesiologist both visited her to ask questions and explain a little bit about what to expect. Both guys were very nice. Diva beamed through it all. 
My gawd she's a beautiful child! This is such a good depiction of her. She's so often cheerful, except when she's pouty. She's much less attractive when she pouts. I love way her skin glows with this buttery richness when she's happy. This picture was taken pre-surgery. Obviously. 

I forgot to take any pictures of her in the recovery area. She looked pretty dull. She didn't respond to much, negative or positive. Thankfully she did drink some water and eat a popsicle. That's the trick, getting them to drink, drink, drink. They also recommend a lot of chewing. That helps the throat muscles, and decreases the muscle spasms that make the kids' ears hurt. So Diva has been chewing a lot of gummy bears. Gummy bears are nice and soft, and aren't rough on the raw flesh in the throat.

Here she is at home Friday afternoon. She's watching television. It's now mid afternoon Saturday and she's been in front of that television almost constantly. Her throat may be healing, but her brain is rotting. When I took this picture she didn't feel very good. She has cried a few times because the throat hurts so bad, but crying makes it hurt worse, so that's been minimal. It's worst when I give her the pain medication. 

This picture was also taken Friday evening. As you can see, she's still pretty cheerful. She's been cold, though. She's sitting in the chair in front of the fireplace wrapped in blankets. She wanted me to take this picture because the frill on the blanket sort of looks like a beard or a lion's mane. 

The recovery is going well. She's right on schedule. Her assessment of the situation is a bit different, as she's the one with the sore throat. I hope she'll feel significantly better by Monday. She won't be able to go to school until the following Monday, though. We scheduled the surgery for yesterday in part because next week is only a 2 day school week, Thanksgiving break being Wed. through Fri. She needs to be in school as much as possible to keep her grades from plunging. 

Thank you all for your concern, thoughts and prayers. My Diva loves that attention!! And I appreciate it. :)

we seem to have somehow survived

Thursday was a rough day. I hardly slept at all. My sinus infection was attempting to rot through my cheeks and brow. But last night I slept well, and this morning my head hardly hurts at all. I feel a little bit sleepy, but it's more a "waking up" sleepy than a "go to sleep" sleepy.

I'm having a fine time with Mama. She needs very little physical help now. I have to take a picture of this wonderful contraption she's using to get around. It's a scooter. Absolutely adorable.

Most of what she needs is a go-fer. I go for her breakfast, go for her paper, go for her mail, go for.... whatever she needs. She hasn't gone anywhere except her bed, her bathroom, and her recliner. It's all she can do now, but hopefully she'll be able to go into the kitchen before I leave. Otherwise the poor dear will starve! Of course now she can't tell if I'm keeping the kitchen clean! :) (I am, btw)

I'm off now to see if she's awake and ready for breakfast. Ta ta!

Adam update- Really Good News!!!

As I mentioned earlier, Light is home now until January. Well, she just got a phone call from ADAM!
He's walking! Yes, I said walking!
He was moved from the hospital in their college town today to our new rehabilitation hospital in this backwater little town. No joke, this rehab hospital just opened maybe a month or two ago. Just in time for Adam. So now he's in town, his parents don't have to travel for 1.5 hours to see him, he can make local calls to his local friends, he can have visitors here in his hometown. I'm in awe.
He won't be able to have more than one or two visitors a day for the first few days, so of course that'll be his parents. But hopefully by next weekend his friends can go see him. I want to go with Light when she visits him. I am eager to tell him how much all of you have been concerned and supportive.
His mom will be taking his laptop and gaming system to him tomorrow, so he'll be entertained and hooked up to the world soon.
I'm just thrilled.
A bit more detail about his condition (as I understand it) : He did break some vertebrae in his neck. He broke the two bones that act as the joint upon which his head pivots. He can nod his head up and down, but cannot move it side-to-side. He can motion "yes" but not "no."
I'll post more as I discover it.
Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for him.

Adam update

Here's the latest from his sister. I'm not even sure if he is still in the coma.

11/30/07 update:The surgery went pretty well; they ended up doing some work on his neck in addition to his back. He has metal screws and bars etc. in place now (ie- his xrays have a little of that Frankenstein vibe)... the doctor said his back will take about a year to heal, although he may be looking at another surgery around that time. They hope he will be in the position to start testing out his mobility in another week.