Well hello again.
We're home safe and sound, going over medication instructions and warming up some soup for Karee's pretty-gosh-darned-sore-throat.
The procedure went really quite well - the doctors went in there and did their thing successfully, and it seemed almost anti-climactic! Some of our medical friends have been saying that "you don't want to be an interesting patient" and while I think Karee used to be an interesting patient, she's becoming less interesting now, and we're totally fine with it!
The ENT showed me pictures that showed before and after and it was pretty darned stunning. Before showed goopy, lumpy tissue that was difficult to identify, and the after showed a lovely long, open trachea. No complications, nuthin'! We'll check in with him in 7-10 days and go from there. He felt very good about the procedure.
The pulmonologist did the bronchoscopy as before- there was some additional scar tissue to be removed, and he rinsed out the lung again, took some biopsies, but didn't think anything looked out of the ordinary. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the airway to the right lung that looked more inflamed than the left, while it was the left one that was completely covered by scar tissue a month ago. Somehow the leading edge of the scar tissue remained more active, while the scar tissue that had been there longer was a bit more passive? So yes, he removed some tissue from the right airway and it's clean now, but the pictures show much of the tissue to be rather inflamed, or in his words, "angry". Looking at the pictures, 'angry' feels about right!
Karee was in very good spirits all morning - lots of our usual banter and silliness. That started to wane when the procedure was put off (the previous operation in the O.R. was running long) and she was finally wheeled into the O.R. an hour and fifteen minutes late. I didn't get to see her until 5:45 or so - she had woken up pretty drowsy still and feeling nauseous so they gave her some nausea medicine and that knocked her out for a good hour plus.
At this point she's up and about moving slowly and gingerly, but she's home!
Thanks to everyone for constant support and good wishes, those near and far. Special thanks to my 'visitors' and hand-holders today - Dick Evans, Kristi Sandusky, and Jerry "Poppy" Justice! Good conversations all around!
Peace - I'm tired and will be going to bed shortly!
Steve
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Ding Ding Ding! Round 2 (or 3, depending on how you're counting)!
Good morning all,
So Karee will be going in today to have her 'trachea shaved'. Woohoo! This is the proverbial 'other shoe' we've been waiting to drop. It was scheduled just a week or so ago, and all thoughts in the past week have led up to, but not very far beyond, this point.
To recap, after opening up her collapsed lung by removing gobs of scar tissue from the entrance to the lung's left main airway, the big plumbing that remained was to take care of the serious narrowing at the top of the trachea/sub-glottal region. Today the E.N.T. surgeon will go in and cut and suck away the scar tissue and dab it with some mighty powerful medicine to hopefully keep it healthy. A friend of ours who is also an E.N.T. (hi Tyler! and thanks for sharing your expertise!) told us that this magic medicine is what makes this procedure so safe and so successful. "Mitomycin c" is a chemo-therapy agent apparently, and has been very helpful in the recovery process. I don't even understand it so much, but he made it seem like a big deal, so I'll jump on that bandwagon. Yay mitomycin c!
So after they do that bit of crucial plumbing, Karee's pulmonologist will take over and go back down into her lungs to check to see how the original surgery is healing. In our follow up meeting to the original surgeries with the pulmonologist a few weeks ago, he said he might remove some more scar tissue if the situation demands it, but he also might just take a look-see and get out.
Karee's procedure is at 11:30. We have to show up at 9:30 and I'm sure she'll get to enjoy being picked and prodded for a while before we settle down and sit in pre-op for a good long while. I will be passing at least some of the time during the procedure at a new favorite restaurant directly across the road from Swedish (the hospital) with one of our very good friends Kristi. The plan is that Karee will come home tonight, and then first thing in the morning I get to go to the airport to pick up my sister Beth who is coming for the weekend to hang out with Ella and take care of Karee while I head off to the Suzuki conference in Minneapolis for the weekend. Just a run of the mill weekend around here, ya know?
I don't expect I'll be updating the blog until we get home, so look for a recap of the days' excitement 6:00 or 7:00pm?
Thanks for all your good wishes! While we're a little nervous about the procedure (this tissue they're removing is uncomfortably close to my singer wife's vocal cords after all) we're in the hands of the best of the best, and this really should be the beginning of the end. Hopefully an end to chronic coughing and wheezy breath, and the dawn of a new day!
All for now,
Steve
So Karee will be going in today to have her 'trachea shaved'. Woohoo! This is the proverbial 'other shoe' we've been waiting to drop. It was scheduled just a week or so ago, and all thoughts in the past week have led up to, but not very far beyond, this point.
To recap, after opening up her collapsed lung by removing gobs of scar tissue from the entrance to the lung's left main airway, the big plumbing that remained was to take care of the serious narrowing at the top of the trachea/sub-glottal region. Today the E.N.T. surgeon will go in and cut and suck away the scar tissue and dab it with some mighty powerful medicine to hopefully keep it healthy. A friend of ours who is also an E.N.T. (hi Tyler! and thanks for sharing your expertise!) told us that this magic medicine is what makes this procedure so safe and so successful. "Mitomycin c" is a chemo-therapy agent apparently, and has been very helpful in the recovery process. I don't even understand it so much, but he made it seem like a big deal, so I'll jump on that bandwagon. Yay mitomycin c!
So after they do that bit of crucial plumbing, Karee's pulmonologist will take over and go back down into her lungs to check to see how the original surgery is healing. In our follow up meeting to the original surgeries with the pulmonologist a few weeks ago, he said he might remove some more scar tissue if the situation demands it, but he also might just take a look-see and get out.
Karee's procedure is at 11:30. We have to show up at 9:30 and I'm sure she'll get to enjoy being picked and prodded for a while before we settle down and sit in pre-op for a good long while. I will be passing at least some of the time during the procedure at a new favorite restaurant directly across the road from Swedish (the hospital) with one of our very good friends Kristi. The plan is that Karee will come home tonight, and then first thing in the morning I get to go to the airport to pick up my sister Beth who is coming for the weekend to hang out with Ella and take care of Karee while I head off to the Suzuki conference in Minneapolis for the weekend. Just a run of the mill weekend around here, ya know?
I don't expect I'll be updating the blog until we get home, so look for a recap of the days' excitement 6:00 or 7:00pm?
Thanks for all your good wishes! While we're a little nervous about the procedure (this tissue they're removing is uncomfortably close to my singer wife's vocal cords after all) we're in the hands of the best of the best, and this really should be the beginning of the end. Hopefully an end to chronic coughing and wheezy breath, and the dawn of a new day!
All for now,
Steve
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Woohoo! Another procedure!
Hello everyone, time for an update!
We found out yesterday that Karee will go in for another procedure next Thursday, May 24. During this procedure, the E.N.T. will shave away the scar tissue from her trachea that was creating the stenosis/narrowing. Also on the docket will be a check in with her lungs, to see how it's healing from the original bronchoscope. The pulmonologist says he may do some more scar tissue removal down there, it depends on what he sees.
We're mostly hopeful at this juncture, although the E.N.T. seems to be pretty heavy handed in the medication department, telling Karee she'd be on steroids for months and months, and a proton pump inhibitor likely forever. (His diagnosis was that she has 'silent reflux', reflux of the esophogus.) This bit of the diagnosis was very upsetting. Karee is having to rework her ideas about western medicine throughout this process, and until now she's received such a high level of respect and caring from her doctors, that this particular doctor came off looking not so good. We've had conversations with other medical folks in the know who disagree considerably with the length of prescriptions involved, so the final chapter there has not been written.
As always, thanks so much for everyone's continued concern and support for Karee and all of us as we work through this, ahem, 'excitement'. May is usually pretty crazy, but this May has been way over the top!
Thanks again,
Steve (and Karee and Miles and Ella)
We found out yesterday that Karee will go in for another procedure next Thursday, May 24. During this procedure, the E.N.T. will shave away the scar tissue from her trachea that was creating the stenosis/narrowing. Also on the docket will be a check in with her lungs, to see how it's healing from the original bronchoscope. The pulmonologist says he may do some more scar tissue removal down there, it depends on what he sees.
We're mostly hopeful at this juncture, although the E.N.T. seems to be pretty heavy handed in the medication department, telling Karee she'd be on steroids for months and months, and a proton pump inhibitor likely forever. (His diagnosis was that she has 'silent reflux', reflux of the esophogus.) This bit of the diagnosis was very upsetting. Karee is having to rework her ideas about western medicine throughout this process, and until now she's received such a high level of respect and caring from her doctors, that this particular doctor came off looking not so good. We've had conversations with other medical folks in the know who disagree considerably with the length of prescriptions involved, so the final chapter there has not been written.
As always, thanks so much for everyone's continued concern and support for Karee and all of us as we work through this, ahem, 'excitement'. May is usually pretty crazy, but this May has been way over the top!
Thanks again,
Steve (and Karee and Miles and Ella)
Thursday, May 3, 2012
An update from Karee
Hi there,
I thought I would send out an update on what is going on with me...right now, I'm just in recovery mode. I'm not doing much of anything and it feels a little weird!
My energy is pretty lackluster, but I am managing to get out and go for a short walk. After that I need a nap! Two procedures requiring anesthesia make bouncing back a little rough. I'm coughing like nobody's business and it has begun to take a toll on my voice...I'm pretty hoarse today, but it's important for this stuff to move out of my lungs!
I have an appt with the pulmonologist on Monday afternoon and an appt with a neurolaryngologist on Wednesday afternoon. No idea what will happen at either of these appts!
Alyson, if you could plan on teaching Thursday and Jilly, if you could plan on teaching Saturday, that would be great. I'm not sure that it's time to get back just yet. Hope that works out still...
Your continued healing thoughts and prayers are still requested and appreciated. Thank you all so much for helping us out!
xoxo,
Karee
I thought I would send out an update on what is going on with me...right now, I'm just in recovery mode. I'm not doing much of anything and it feels a little weird!
My energy is pretty lackluster, but I am managing to get out and go for a short walk. After that I need a nap! Two procedures requiring anesthesia make bouncing back a little rough. I'm coughing like nobody's business and it has begun to take a toll on my voice...I'm pretty hoarse today, but it's important for this stuff to move out of my lungs!
I have an appt with the pulmonologist on Monday afternoon and an appt with a neurolaryngologist on Wednesday afternoon. No idea what will happen at either of these appts!
Alyson, if you could plan on teaching Thursday and Jilly, if you could plan on teaching Saturday, that would be great. I'm not sure that it's time to get back just yet. Hope that works out still...
Your continued healing thoughts and prayers are still requested and appreciated. Thank you all so much for helping us out!
xoxo,
Karee
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