i'm still in the hospital with Marla (Rush Presbytarian St. Lukes). She's approaching the two week point, but will probably be coming home soon. Her reconstructive neck surgery took 11 full hours; it definitely seemed like eternity!
She was given titanium support from vertebrae C2 through T2. The chief surgeon said that the operation went great and that her neck turned out fantastic. i was told by hospital staff that the chief surgeon and his assistant did not take a break throughout the entire 11 hours!
Swelling, due to the extensive surgery, is causing her to continue to require an NG tube (i.e., nasal/gastrostomy tube); this has been very uncomfortable for her, to say the least. Probably Monday, she will be getting a temporary Gastrostomy tube. She is looking a whole lot better, and is walking well, daily... due to my nagging persistence. i am now married to a bionic woman; (she is full of titanium and plastic)!
shawn
, today, told me that they would not deal with me over the phone regarding Marla's problems with the enteral feedings. They said that it was a confidentiality issue, and that they do not counsel people over the phone regarding such things; then i was told to call Marla's primary physician. i couldn't believe it! Then i later called a very nice and compassionate speech pathologist at Rush, who had helped Marla with Barium Swallow testing. The speech pathologist had a friend at Rush who was a dietitian. Her friend called us later... and stated that it is fine to discuss issues over the phone regarding enteral feedings! Throughout the day, i received information from various agencies regarding what to do concerning the enteral feedings... a lot of the information totally contradicted what other agencies had told us! Anyway, i am very concerned, as she can't swallow anything... and if she regurgitates anything, it would go into her lungs causing aspiration. This evening, she was doing better with the feedings!... so i hope that that continues.