Post op

I am ghost writing this one for Sarah. I've never enjoyed nor been very good a writing so just slog your way through this one.

- Jason


We checked in Thursday morning at 07:30. Sarah was taken back to the pre-op area to be readied for surgery. Her nurse had worked with the doctor who was about to do her surgery for 28 years. She said he is the absolute best in the world. That gave us a huge comfort coming from a nurse who, if she felt differently, would have not said anything at all. :) After about 30 minutes of prep work, we hugged Sarah as she was wheeled off to the operating room.


Sarah's Mom, Dad, Don and Donna Millican, and I made our way down to the Surgical Family Waiting Area. At about 11:15, we got a call from Mara, a nurse in the OR, who said that Dr. Mathisen was going to go forward with the resection. She said Sarah was doing great and that she said a "sweet prayer for herself as she fell asleep." We all cheered to hear the news that the resection would be happening! I hope that's the last time I ever get excited that someone I love is about to have a major surgery! Mara called about every hour and half to update us on the progress of the surgery. Each time she said things were going perfectly and that Sarah was doing great.





The five or so hours we waited seemed to crawl by. After Mara updated us at 11:30, we decided to go grab some lunch since we wouldn't hear anything for another hour and half. As we were waiting for the final update, the fire alarms began to go off! Absolutely no one moved. I sat calmly but inside my brain was imagining a panicked operating room frantically trying to sew up Sarah as the smoke was pouring in through the door frames. I have a good imagination, what can I say. After a few minutes, Boston Ladder 1 showed up. I have no idea what actually happened, but it appeared to be a false alarm.





Just after the fire incident, around 3:00pm, we received a call from Dr. Mathisen. He told me that the surgery went really well. The stenosis was a bit higher than he expected which made it a little more difficult but as far as he was concerned, it was a success. What a relief! He said wait thirty minutes and go up to the Surgical ICU waiting area.





We only waited about 15 minutes in the SICU waiting area before I was allowed to back and see her. It was such a huge relief to see she was ok with my own eyes. It took all I had not to run in and squeeze her! She looked really great considering she had just had her trachea cut in half only a few hours earlier. She is on strict voice rest so she is writing everything she wants to say on a legal pad.

One of Sarah's first notes after waking up.
 





First night in the ICU.

The first night in the ICU was rough. I stayed all night while her Mom and Dad got some much needed sleep. Her overnight nurse was fantastic. Shawn (sp?) kept her as comfortable as possible all night. Before shift change, her heart rate got a bit high. It was running around 110 - 125. As soon as Shawn started, she positioned Sarah so she would be more comfortable. She also massaged Sarah's back. An hour into Shawn's shift, Sarah's heartrate had dropped into the 80's and she fell asleep. I know that is how Sarah cares for her patients. I'm glad she had a nurse who treated her so well. Sharla came in and relieved me at about 06:00.

Her first night when really well. I'll post more as she progresses. Thank you to all that have prayed, sent texts, Facebooked, cooked meals, watched kids and anymore of the countless things that have been done for us. We are overwhelmed by how God has watched over us using so many wonderful people.