Bye Bye GB

I'm happy to report that Julie went through her gall bladder removal surgery with flying colors.  She's home.  Indy's in her lap.  And she's doing well.  Praise God for His goodness to us.  We are very thankful.

Yesterday started with Julie arriving at the Outpatient Surgery center at 9:00am.  After getting her into a gown and prepped it was time to hang out until surgery time.  Dean was kind enough to come and visit during the wait and pray with us before it was time for transfer to the pre-op room.

Here's Julie in the pre-op room where she met her anesthesiologist.  The two of them bonded immediately after Julie explained that she is an animal technician and routinely administers anesthesia to all sorts of animals.  They immediately started talking shop;  needle gauges and other stuff I don't know anything about.  It was a good strategic move on Julie's part because she has really difficult veins to hit and this guy was as gentle as he could be with her.

Unfortunately, it took 4 sticks before he could find a workable vein.  Here was Julie by the end of that ordeal.

A few minutes later it was time.  A quick kiss and she was off to the operating room - and it was off to the waiting room for me.  That was about 12:00pm. 

By 2:30 her surgeon greeted me in the waiting room with great news.  Julie had 3 large gall stones - one of which has lodged unceremoniously in her bile duct leading to the pain she experiences and some internal inflammation.  He was confident he had found the source of the problem and was able to remove the gall bladder with the stones to resolve it.  Julie had done great through the procedure and was now in recovery. He indicated I should expect her out within an hour or so.

I was glad to pass along some status to family and friends and then it was back to the waiting room until I heard from the recovery room.  After almost 3 hours I was getting a bit concerned.  Where was Julie?  Was something wrong? Fortunately, once Julie woke up and regained her senses she realized they hadn't talked to me and got them to give me a call.  It was great to hear her voice and know that she was ok.  

Tim was nice enough to come over and bring me some dinner as I waited to see Julie.  It was a very thoughtful gesture.  Finally, after waiting 7 hours - I finally got to see her as they wheeled her into her room.  She looked great and was awake and aware.  I was relieved!

Julie is such a trooper! Here she is - this morning - already up and walking around.  Amazing.

So,  after proving she could eat some food without nausea she was ready to come home! They released her about 1pm today.

She's home now and resting comfortably.  She has taken very little pain meds as she has enjoyed some Indy time on the couch.

We are very thankful to the Surgeon and staff at O'Connor Hospital - but mostly God for holding her in His hand throughout this situation.