Scars Be Gone!

Nicole sailed through her surgery just fine today! We got to River Oaks Hospital around 10am, and she went straight to the lab to have blood drawn. While Larry and I waited for her in a little waiting room for outpatient families, Josh came in. He wanted to take one (?!) last photo of Nicole with her big ol' trach scar before surgery.

They put Nic in a room--very small, but with a rocking chair and TV! She had to put on a surgical gown and they took her to the pre-surgical holding area where she had an IV put in. That was a little rough, because she can't make a good fist, and it was hard for them to find a vein...three sticks (ouch!). Finally, they got it, and we visited with Dr. Welch (the anesthesiologist) and Dr. Dev. I went back to her little room and met up with Larry, and we went to eat in the hospital cafeteria while Nic was in surgery. We got calls every 30 minutes, updating us on her progress. The surgery took about two hours, then she went to recovery for awhile before being returned to us.

Nic was very alert when she got to the room, and felt really well. They observed for for awhile, then gave her some morphine in her drip before sending us home. We stopped by Beemon Drugs on the way home to get her prescriptions and Lester came out to the car to cheer on his favorite patient!

Next we stopped to get take-out for dinner before heading home. Nicole ate a huge dinner--she had not eaten since 9pm last night so she was famished. After settling in her room, she began feeling a little pain. "It hurts to talk." I gave her a pain pill, a big jug o' water, and I believe she'll be out like a light soon. Sweet Roxie is curled up on the rug at the foot of her bed. Could it be that she instinctively knows Nicole was operated on today?

What a day! It brought back lots of memories, but oddly, we remembered the good parts. I remembered how awesome nurses are (thanks, Mollie!) and how nice people can be. Everyone seemed to be rooting for Nicole, amazed by her story, and even more so, her strength. Dev came and visited with us after the surgery and we had a great visit. I think it was a good "un-wind" time for him, and a time for Larry and me to breathe a deep breath of gratitude. While her surgeons in New York were amazing, they just didn't have that "Southern touch." Sure, Dev is Indian, but he's been here long enough that he knows his "y'alls," if you know what I mean!

Thanks for the many text messages, phone calls and carinibridge guestbook entries. It was good for all of us to know that we had so many prayers being sent up today! Nicole will lay low tomorrow, then she'll be back at rehab on Wednesday morning to try out the new Bioness H200! It will be another exciting day on her road to recovery.

Blessings to all who read this!
Susan