We Have a Winner!

Jim and I are back at Stanford. Last night, my gigantic spleen was removed. It weighed in at 6.4 pounds! A normal spleen weighs approximately five ounces. Congrats to Marlene H. who had the closest guess without going over. 

Me in pre-op: Look at the shnazzy Stanford gown!

Due to the size of the spleen, the surgeon had to perform an “open” splenectomy. That means that I have a lovely incision that flows from my rib cage down to about an inch and a half below my belly button. The amazing thing is that the stitches are inside which leaves what looks like a braid down my belly. My kids often ask me if I’ll ever get a tattoo. Now I can tell them that I have my own body art already!! Apart from it’s artistic qualities, and more seriously, I do find the incision to be quite fascinating. How do they tie the stitches off when they are inside the body?!? 

As you can imagine, I’m on some pretty heavy pain meds. Prior to the surgery, the anesthesiologist came in and discussed the options available to me. Although I would be under general anesthesia, I was going to be given additional meds. The options included standard opioids through the IV or an epidural. I have no idea what drugs they use in the epidural, except that they aren’t opioids. That’s a win in my opinion. 

The epidural turned out to be a fantastic choice. This medical journey began as a search for relief from chronic back pain and to find the source of said pain and hopefully correct it. Through use of the epidural, the doctors are able to give me pain meds for the incision. In addition, those meds relieve or mask pain below the injection site. That means that I haven’t had any back pain since last night!! Wow!! My back hasn’t been pain free in three years. I feel like doing a happy dance, but that’s probably a bad idea. 😂 Of course I have pain across my abdomen, but I love the very noticeable lack of pain in my lower back. I’m sure that sounds crazy, but I have struggled with it for so long that not having it truly is cause for celebration! 

Of course, I’m not quite in shape for a party at the moment. One of my goals for the day is to get be able to get out of bed on my own. That’s a tough one, but with some maneuvering and the use of hospital bed safety rails as leverage points, I have achieved it! My other goal is to move around as much as possible.

One of the criteria for my discharge is my ability to walk with some ease. So, Jim and I took a slow walk earlier. I am noticeably lacking the “ease” which the doctors will require for discharge. Several times, Jim had to keep me from stumbling or slipping sideways in the hall. I think that’s mostly due to “walking under the influence” of pain meds than the pain itself. Right now, walking requires me to hold my stomach because the movement makes the incision ache pretty badly. It also requires me to push the IV pole around with me. One would think that would be an annoyance, but I eventually found myself feeling thankful for it’s presence. An IV pole makes an excellent “trekking pole” on which to lean when tired. Mine became my most valuable belonging about halfway through our walk. Don’t underrate the importance of the IV pole!

Jim and I continue to be overwhelmed and infinitely thankful for the prayers and kindness shown by all of you. Thank you for continually showing us God’s love through your words and actions.