Yesterday was a good day.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Tuesday night was uneventful, and peaceful, and we caught up on some rest. Mom and Dad came again in the morning, Wednesday, and stayed until Penny got back to the room around 5. It took about 4 hours to get it all done

The procedure was a success, but it was a long difficult afternoon for her.

When Pen woke up around 11PM tonight for her four hour med nurses visit, I asked her if she wanted to add anything to the blog today. She said no, just to thank everyone again, and that tomorrow when she felt better she was going to type herself and tell everybody what the experience felt like.

They had to guide a needle through her abdomen, liver, bile ducts and into the intestine, and then wheel her down to another room where they did the ERCP again, found the wire inside and used it to guide the stent into place to open up the bile ducts. They don’t put you out for this thing. You need to be semi conscious. They used a different term like comatose consciousness or something, but the point is you are aware for this little adventure. They don’t want you to hurt too bad, but they need you to be able to move around a little during this to help them guide their instruments around in there. Penny’s head was dripping with sweat when she got out of there. I got in to have a peek at the picture on the monitor with Penny just when they finished up. The image of the stint in place in the duct, along with surrounding organs, bones, etc. was crystal clear. That is amazing stuff they do in there. Penny was awake and talking as soon as it was done, and the first thing she said was, ‘it was awful’.

She seems to have tolerated it all very well though, and recovered nicely so far.
She slept for a bit when she got back to the room. Then she got up and dressed in her own nightie and relaxed in the reclining chair for a visit with Pete and Julie, and enjoyed the sunset view at the same time.
It is almost 2 in the morning now, and Pen has only had 1 BT med all night, and that was hours ago, so it looks like another peaceful night. Huge thank you very much to all the staff here again for your efforts and kindness yesterday. Everyday.

Yesterday was a good day.

Michael