wescomer.com

Post-Surgery Update

Posted on 17. Oct, 2009 by Wes Comer in Health

Hi everyone, Brooke here. :)

It is now Friday afternoon (1pm), about 36 hours post-op. Wes is doing well and is able to talk, eat, and use all his extremities. He is experiencing virtually no dizziness, and is in very little pain. His head surgeons, Drs Reid Thompson and David Haynes, are very pleased with his progress.

He is still sporting a fashionable headdress, which is complemented by a lovely abdominal drain at the incision site where fat was harvested to ‘plug the hole’ in his skull where the operation took place.  Wearing scrub pants in addition to his hospital gown has preserved his dignity.

A few fun facts:

• This is one of the longest surgeries that occur regularly at Vanderbilt.

The family and friends that gathered to ‘wait it out’ on Wednesday arrived at 6am for pre-op, and waited until 11pm, when the surgery was completed. I (Brooke) got to see him in the holding room before surgery, where I noted a nice black dot on his right earlobe to indicate the correct side. I was the only one allowed to see him at that point. We had about thirty minutes together as numerous members of the OR team came by to introduce themselves. They were all very kind. Wes was very calm through all this, and neither displayed nor felt any unsteadiness in his faith and trust in God, who we know has orchestrated every detail from the beginning. (He’s not just God on the platform, but also in the OR, folks!)

When they were ready to take him into the OR, I went (a little unsteadily) back down to the waiting room. And so we waited.

• It is painstaking work to drill through bone.

It took from 8am (official start of surgery) to 1:45pm just to drill through the skull (Just the thought of that sends a shiver down the spine). We received a call around 11am in the waiting room that his vital signs were great, he was proceeding just fine. At 1:45pm, another call from the team came, saying that they had finished drilling through the bone and were ready to go into the brain.

This was where reality was a little difficult for me. The thought that my husband’s brain was exposed at that very moment, and that his life was so vulnerable, was surreal and unnerving. Yet I knew that God was in control. I just needed to turn the knob a bit on my emotional pressure valve. A few moments in the chapel helped. :)

• Tumors are sticky creatures.

At about 5:45pm, half the tumor had been removed, and the intensive work of ‘teasing’ the tumor away from the facial nerve began. This is very meticulous work, and proved to be a laborious, time-consuming process for the surgeons.

• There is no such thing as too much communication.

At 8:15, we were informed that the main waiting room would close at 9pm, and we were directed to the second floor waiting room for the rest of the surgery. A message was relayed through the waiting room receptionist that the OR would call in about 15 minutes, and that it would be a while before they were ready to begin closing the incision.

Not having received another call by 9, we moved upstairs and continued to wait. All the other families in the waiting room had come and gone, for the most part, and most other surgeries had begun and ended.

By 10:30pm, I was on pins and needles and needing to hear something from the OR. The upstairs waiting room was unstaffed, and we were answering the phone ourselves. I had heard nothing more at that point since 5:45, so I called the hospital operator and asked for her to contact the OR for an update. Within a few minutes, we were told that one of the surgeons would be out to talk to us, and that the surgery was almost completed.

• Waiting on brain surgery isn’t easy, but it’s worth it.

Dr Haynes came out first and told us the news: all the tumor had been removed (praise God!), and that he was pleasantly surprised at the condition and function of the facial nerve. He said that usually you can expect a delay for that nerve to regain its integrity, since the tumor presses into it as it grows, stretching it out, often causing irreparable damage. He said in this case, though Wes’s tumor had been very large, the response of that nerve was excellent, it was completely intact, and we could expect its immediate function. The brain stem had been preserved, and he had endured the surgery well. All vital signs were great throughout the duration of the surgery.

You can imagine the great load lifted from the shoulders of those who waited with me that night. I told Dr Haynes I wanted to hug him. :)

Dr Thompson came out, shook everyone’s hand warmly, and reiterated the same information, obviously very pleased with the outcome of the surgery.

An hour later, I went with Wes’ mom to the ICU, where he had been taken after surgery. He was pale and feeling a little sick from the anesthesia, but I’ve never seen anything more wonderful in my life. He was really drowsy from all the medicine, but recognized us and was able to say hello and answer basic questions. Dizzy with gratitude, I thanked God many times for preserving the life of my husband.

He spent the night in the ICU, and his mom stayed with him overnight while I went to get some rest at the hotel. The ICU staff checked on him every hour, making sure his pain and vitals were all under control. By morning, he was sitting up in a chair by the bed, had walked a lap around the ICU floor, and though still groggy, was progressing well in his recovery.

The following morning, twelve hours after surgery, he was stable enough to be transported to a regular room. From then until now, he has remained in his room on the sixth floor, taking an occasional walk around the room or down the hallway, eating a little, and sleeping a lot.

The doctors are now saying he should be well enough to go home tomorrow (Saturday), though the final word has not yet been given. I will do my best to keep everyone informed via Facebook/Twitter as to when we actually leave.

To all who have prayed, fasted, called, texted, emailed, facebooked, and twittered, we thank you! God is faithful and has heard your prayers, and we are unspeakably grateful for His mercy.

This is no small thing that we have come through. It has not been easy, and there are surely some curves in the road ahead, but we have felt the hand of God directing our path the whole time. He may not prevent every storm, but He carries us through it every time. To God be all the glory.

*Just an added note: Wes is not able to read your emails, texts, or comments at this time. (He is also too wiped out to be taking phone calls). As is typical of this kind of operation, he has yet to regain the visual strength enough to focus on words. I’m told it will be several weeks before this is possible. So please know we appreciate every comment and note sent to us–he is getting the messages as quickly as I can relay them. If you don’t receive a direct response, please accept our apology and know that we appreciate each and every word!*

Tags: Acoustic Neuroma, Surgery, Tumor