Monday, August 13, 2012

Full Medical Details

So evidently my phone decided to autocorrect some of the stuff I wrote earlier. Now that I have access to my laptop I need to do an actual explanation.

Surgery was originally set to start at 1:00 - 1:30. When we walked through the doors we were told 2:30 because the case before us took longer. The anesthesiologist took over at 3:15 and that's when I left Chris in their hands.

The doc told me he'd speak to me at about 4:30. I told everyone 6:00. I received a call in the waiting room at 5:50 that things went mostly smoothly, they were closing up and the surgeon would see me shortly.

At 6:30 I received the surgeon's report.

The tumor ended up being bigger than expected, as in softball-sized (damn autocorrect changed that to golf ball, sorry). The size of the tumor meant it had made itself quite a large blood supply so there was 6-7 times the amount of blood as normal, JUST FROM THE TUMOR. Chris did not lose a lot of blood for his size or his blood volume. However with the tumor removed the blood supplies needed to be closed off and diverted so he currently has a drain in place.

The entire thyroid was removed as agreed upon. The surgeon said the tumor came free easily and was not attached to anything (a very GOOD thing). The opposite parathyroid gland seems to be healthy, the same side has some damage from the tumor but not too much however the blood supply for the same side parathyroid was distinguishable which is a good sign. Tests will determine whether or not they are functioning properly and only one needs to function properly in order to avoid problems.


There was no major nerve damage and any minor nerve damage will take a while to show.

If the drain is ready to be removed and his calcium levels stabilize he can go home tomorrow. If not tomorrow more than likely the next day.

He is feeling like crap and looks like crap with nausea and pain, however he came through surgery well. He is awake and unhappy which is always a good sign.

As for the lateness of this post, a friend who was sitting with me while I waited rushed me off to eat (for reasons that will be revealed shortly) and I had trouble with dinner (for reasons that will be revealed shortly) plus once we got here Chris needed some stuff and was sick and....

Well, you get the idea.

But it's all good, and Chris is okay.