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24142. judithathome - 6/7/2008 4:33:33 AM We picked Leslie up at 4am today and drove to Dallas...he was rolled into surgery at 7am. At SIX THIRTY PM, we saw the neurosurgeon...after 11 hours of surgery. He said the surgery went "fairly well". Evidently when they tried the bypass, they discovered the artery was too short to reach the one they wanted to hook it up to so they had to go to plan B: he "forged" two veins onto the good artery and said at the end of the operation, the blood flow was good.
Les had to have two incisions and bone removals and they patched the missing bone with some sort of miracle "putty" that hardens to the consistency of bone and then covered it with the flaps of his scalp. He will have two scars but he's the kinda guy who will love that (a quote from his doctor).
Because of the extensive work done to the brain, when he wakes up after the next two days of sedation and breathing tube apparatus, he will have many of the symptoms of a stroke...the brain "thinks" it has had a stoke but it hasn't. The doctor said Les can overcome this more easily than he did the original strokes by retraining his brain to understand it did not have a bona fide stroke.
He will be in ICU for 5 to 10 days and then be transferred to the physical rehab facility in Fort Worth where he did such good work after the stroke last August.
It was an absolutely exhausting day so please forgive me if I sound incoherent...I haven't slept since Wednesday night. In the waiting room, I was reading a book I'd brought along and suddenly I snapped to and realized it had slipped out of the book jacket and onto the floor, hitting my feet...I guess I dozed off while reading!
We aren't going over to Dallas tomorrow because they told us he will still be sedated; we're planning to go on Sunday night and I will give y'all an update then.
He looked pretty good considering all the tubes and incisions on his skull! One of the male nurses was telling the others that "when this guy wakes up, he is going to be "wild and crazy!". Evidently Leslie is a pretty fun patient in ICU. Ha!
24143. Wombat - 6/7/2008 4:45:46 AM Judith:
I am glad the surgery went well. 24144. robertjayb - 6/7/2008 4:50:51 AM You describe an amazing operation. Sounds like a good start on a long road. 24145. anomie - 6/7/2008 5:03:16 AM Judith, all the best to you through these times. What a great Mom you are. That's obvious, I know, but worth saying anyway. 24146. arkymalarky - 6/7/2008 5:07:43 AM Wow, Judith, thanks for taking the time to let us know. I hope he's back to himself asap. 24147. thoughtful - 6/9/2008 5:55:21 PM Thanks for filling us in...I was wondering how things were going. Sounds like quite an extensive operation, but it seems to have gone well, all things considered. Keeping him sedated is really important as the best mechanism for healing the body is rest.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Les, and Mom be sure to take good care of yourself too! 24148. thoughtful - 6/11/2008 6:40:50 PM Well today is hubby's bday, and I'm enjoying it very much...just hit macy's at lunchtime and nabbed a bag of clothes that cost less than a tank of gas! My best buy: Black suit jacket, fully lined for $18.47 and then took an additional 20% off. Not bad, eh?
I hope he's enjoying it too! 24149. wabbit - 6/11/2008 6:54:08 PM My kind of shopping! Happy birthday, Mr. T'ful!
JaH, I hope Les recovers fully and quickly, please keep us posted. 24150. judithathome - 6/11/2008 7:41:19 PM Yesterday, a friend took me over to Dallas to see Leslie and he was doing so great they had moved him from ICU to a private room and he was walking (with a nurse) up and down the halls and talking and making jokes...it was 1000 % better than on Sunday and in fact, the doctor said last night he can be transferred to a rehabilitation facility over here in Fort Worth. He's been there before (last year, after the stroke) and he is so happy to be going back...he'll go there either today or tomorrow.
The doctor told Leslie he is the toughest SOB he's ever worked on...said he had NEVER seen anyone recover so quickly.
So I am feeling much, much better...even though I had my teeth pulled two hours ago. I guess when the deadening wears off, that will change. Ha!
24151. arkymalarky - 6/11/2008 7:57:28 PM Fantastic news, Judith! 24152. thoughtful - 6/11/2008 8:41:51 PM Wow...so glad to hear the great news about Les! A fast recovery like that is the best sign that the surgeon did an excellent job. That is wonderful news.
Keep the ice on your gums before the drugs wear off...that way, when they do wear off it'll be less swollen and painful. Ouch! 24153. alistairConnor - 6/11/2008 8:41:54 PM Great news! Best wishes to Les for a quick recovery. 24154. Ms. No - 6/12/2008 7:50:32 AM So glad to hear about Leslie's progress! 24155. vonKreedon - 6/12/2008 3:01:05 PM Judith - So sad and so glad to hear about Les' medical struggles. And yours for that matter. Visualizing good things for you both. 24156. wonkers2 - 6/12/2008 3:13:13 PM Judith, glad for the good news. We're keeping our fingers crossed. 24157. judithathome - 6/13/2008 3:45:41 AM Today Leslie was moved over to his rehab facility here in town and he's in excellent spirits. I'm going over there in the morning after my third trip to the dentist this week...everything is going great, mouth-wise, but the dentist wants to make sure the plate is comfortable over the weekend. My gums feel fine but the kidney stone, not so much. 24158. arkymalarky - 6/13/2008 5:21:05 PM That's great about Leslie! Hang in there, drink lots of cranberry juice, and set your sights on the end of July! 24159. Ms. No - 6/13/2008 5:46:32 PM It's official! My application has been accepted so now I get to job hunt from the Project Pipeline pool of schools. A week from tomorrow is the job fair and I'll have some interviews there, but with the state of the budget in California right now many of our schools aren't looking to finalize their hiring until mid-August so I may actually begin the training without having a contract with a school.
In the meantime I'm studying up on the available schools like crazy trying to put together a top ten list and a bunch of questions to ask during interviews. 24160. arkymalarky - 6/13/2008 5:55:54 PM How exciting!! You ought to call Mose. She could tell you a lot about the first year and y'all could swap ideas and stuff. She quit my school--the schedule was just too much and the drive too far to be in grad school. She will be working at Bob's school next year! But in a different building. She'll have seventh graders all day, where at my school she taught six different classes. She talks about how easy things will be in comparison, and I keep trying to explain how "seventh grader" offsets that schedule. ;-)
Do you know what, generally, you'll be teaching, grade and subject-wise? 24161. robertjayb - 6/13/2008 7:05:52 PM Find the cheapest gasoline in your ZIP code...
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