Update on SaraJane's surgery

Hi my name is Carmen and SaraJane had asked me to update her blog readers on her surgery. Once she is well enough, she will be able to share with you her thoughts and insights concerning her surgery and recovery. This post is just the details of the last two days concerning her surgery. She will log back on to elaborate more on her experience as soon as she can.

Well, the day (yesterday, 1/20) started out in a whirlwind at 5 a.m. SaraJane woke up got dressed and woke me up around 5:30. I had stayed over the night before to help her and her family out with all the details concerning the surgery. While in the car while we were starting to head out, SaraJane got a call from the hospital operating staff, asking her where she was. They were expecting her at 6:30 a.m. instead of the 8:30 a.m. that she had been informed. A little frustrated, SaraJane told them that she was told to be there by 8:30 a.m. She then told them that she was still in New Jersey and is on her way. They told her to get there when she can.

So off we went, SaraJane, myself and her dog, Faith. First, we stopped to pick up her mom and then we had to go and drop off Faith at the doggy daycare. Finally, off towards George Washington bridge into New York. The traffic wasan't bad as I thought it would be. At this point I was driving and not too familiar with the area. I ended up missing an exit and ended up in upper Manhattan. Luckily, we had a GPS and managed to get back on track after a 10 min. detour. Traffic was not too bad after that, and we made it into the hospital right at 8:30 a.m on the dot - the time SaraJane had been told to be there initially. During this time, we knew to just go forward, despite this setback, because God would work out the details.

Right when we walked into the surgical waiting room, the front desk admin and a medical staff, were just talking about SaraJane. They were very glad to see her, "here she is", we all laughed and they took her in right away. Once she was prepped for surgery, it was 9 a.m. and we met with the anesthesiogist. Once he explained how he was going to put her under and bring her back, we said our good byes. Her mom got a little emotional, and SaraJane was able to reassure her. We were told that the surgery would last 7 hours, so her mom and I left.

We went to the cafeteria and had breakfast and much, much needed coffee. We stayed and talked for a couple of hours, hearing stories of Sara Jane's childhood along with many other tidbits from her past. We then decided to go to the hotel and check in. We arrived, unpacked and rested. I was answering texts, updates and phone calls from many of SaraJane's friends. I got a voice mail message and it was the surgical waiting room admin, leaving me a message for me to call the surgeon. The call came in at around 3 p.m. The first thought that came to my mind was that the surgery went extremely well, the second thought was that they couldn't do anything for her and were not able to "fix" the chiari malformation. Her mom was extremely worried. I remained calm and matter of fact. I called the surgeon's number and got his voicemail, so I left a message. We left the hotel and went back to the hospital. On the way to the hospital, while looking for a parking spot in the crowded garage, I got a call back from the surgeon. He told me that the surgery was very successful and that he ended up finishing ahead of schedule. He then proceeded to explain some of the details, but I did not understand much, which I'm sure SaraJane will fill you in on those details. Just that it was successful was enough for me! Praise God for working out all the details of this journey and for those around SaraJane, seeing this miracle take place, really increased our faith.

When her mom and I walked into the surgical waiting room, we were told that SaraJane is out of surgery, and to wait 10 minutes while they try to find out what room she is in. Well, the 10 minutes turned into 30 min. and then another 20 min. In the meantime, I got a call from her brother who told me that he got a call asking him where we were that SaraJane was in the neosurgical unit and was in the room waiting for us. The front desk staff, could not locate her. Some more time goes by and her brother shows up, tells the front desk staff about the phone call he got and they tell contact the neosurgical unit. Lo and behold, she was there in a room assigned to her.

We finally get there and the first thing she says to us when she sees us is "you're fired, you're fired". LOL!! Evidently she was upset because we were not there when she got out. We explained to her about the mix up and after a few minutes she felt better. I thought it was a good sign and she was back to her old self. The drugs were kicking in, but her personality was showing through, so I didn't see much brain damage there. haha!

We spent a few hours with her, while she got adjusted to the IV's and getting comfortable in the bed. She was feeling some surgical pain, but nothing like the debilitating symptoms she had before the surgery. The trembling in her hands had decreased dramatically!! Praise God!! She had a slight numbness in one leg, but that was attributed to the position she was in during the surgery, and it was slow in getting her feeling back. After that, we said our good byes and left for the hotel.

The next day, (1/21), it snowed and it took us a little longer than expected in getting back to the hospital We learned that SaraJane was texting other family members, giving them tasks to do, starting from 6 a.m. that morning. We all chuckled, knowing that SaraJane was back and giving orders and organizing tasks. Woo-hoo! Another positive sign was her asking for a milkshake. We finally arrived with her milkshake and she was looking better. She had not slept much, but was in better spirits. She was even able to get up and walk around the ward a couple of times, with the assistance of a nurse and a walker. During the walk, she was talking to the nurse, giving her advice on running shoes and what marathons to run in. Yup she's back!! We spent a few more hours together and then left her for the night. She had her toiletries bag, her books, her knitting and her laptop for her stay. She also asked for her Bible. She was ready!

So that's it for now. To be continued, by SaraJane. She wanted me to update you on her progress and now she will be taking over with her insights and thoughts on this adventure.

Signing off, this is Carmen! God Bless!!