Notes on the 9th surgery

Surgery 9 went so fast, I hardly made it back from the cafeteria.  Dr. Colohan met me in the waiting room just 75 minutes after I watched them wheel Anne-Marie away.  The procedure went well.  The real story here is the recovery.

Because the surgery was a midday outpatient procedure, we were discarged from the hospital right at rush hour.  We decided that we would stay at SCCA House for a night to allow Anne-Marie to have a solid 18 hours or so in bed before attempting a long car ride.  Plenty of comfort food eateries in the immediate vicinity assisted the recovery greatly, along with the very quiet and dark room.

The peekaboo Needle view from SCCA house

We returned home the next morning, Tuesday, April 15, to continue with the recovery.  Our friend, Melissa, helped us out with the kids for a few days.

Although it was a very short surgery to correct/adjust the original DIEP procedure from January, the pain and stiffness lingered for a couple of weeks.  Anne-Marie didn't drive or leave the house for two weeks.  She was fairly well recovered by the time I took her to here post-op appointment on Thursday, May 1.

Dr. Colohan has informed us that the complete series of surgeries will be larger than we originally anticipated.  We had hoped that it would be a series of three surgeries spaced three months apart.  Now it appears that it may include five operations, with the third in mid-July and taking place every other month until the end of the year.  Pray for us.