Pain.

This last time in the hospital, Ly got to experience working with Palliative care. For those, like her, who did not know what that means, it's basically a group of doctors who work with people who have illnesses that don't go away and often get worse with time...Alan compared it to Hospice. Anyway. The people are really nice and their method of pain control really seemed to help.

Working with them really got Ly interested in pain management and the whole notion of pain. It is difficult to treat pain when it is so subjective (honestly how effective is that 1-10 scale, really?). Luckily there are so many options and the medications the doctors were finally able to prescribe for Ly's pain have really been helping. They do have some odd side effects though. One of which is having crazy dreams.

Case in Point:

Last night Ly dreamed that she gave birth to a few babies. She didn't dream about the actual birthing process, just a bunch of newborn babies ended up in a hospital bassinet all swaddled up. Anyway more kept appearing and so Ly sat up in bed and literally screamed:

"Where are all these babies coming from!?"

Silence.

"Holy cow. Now they are turning into bunnies!"

Yup, she'll be around all week for your entertainment needs.

Anyway it is now 3:25 in the morning and this talk of pain is reminding Ly that her ankle hurts. A lot. And it doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. In fact, maybe it's time to take a pain pill.


*image courtesy http://farm1.static.flickr.com/68/191905347_9a88e63b02.jpg

And we're back.

After a mere three days in the hospital, lots of specialists, and uncomfortable beds, we're proud to announce that the surgery was an apparent success and we are now resting up at home.

Thank you for all of your well wishes, prayers and thoughts on our behalf.

Here we go again...

Well, we're off to our favorite place aka Virginia Hospital Center for Ly's final (hopefully) ankle surgery. We are cautiously optimistic that the hospital stay won't be nearly as long as it was last time and things will run much smoother....we're not a fan of ambulances, pneumonia, or days of hospital food.

Anyway we'll keep you updated as time permits!

*image courtesy of pipereport.com

Welcome Home Lyanna

Sunday afternoon Lyanna was discharged from the hospital. She is very excited not to be awaken at 6:00AM for the daily morning blood draw, not have her blood pressure checked every three hours round the clock, and to be free of supplemental oxygen. Her pneumonia has cleared enough for her to come home and her new pain medicines are finally working.

Welcome home, Lyanna, we're all so glad your safe and on the road to recovery.

And the adventure continues

Ly, her Dad, Rory, and Alan were expecting to continue the ankle surgery adventure at home today, but since Ly's surgery experiences rarely go as planned, their adventure has kept them at the hospital for a little while longer. Here's a summary:

Monday 7:30 AM - Ly goes into surgery
Monday 9:30 AM - Surgeon informs Alan that the surgery was a success and that Ly is going to be very pleased with how her ankle heals. Ly is in recovery and should be ready to go home in a couple of hours
Monday 12:00 PM - Ly is still in recovery trying to control pain and keep her oxygen saturation (O2 Sats) at normal levels.
Monday 2:00 PM - Doctor decides to admit Ly to hospital to giver her more time to manage her pain and get her O2 Sats under control
Tuesday 3:30 PM - Doctors decide that Lyis ready to be discharged, she loads in the car and begins her trip home
Tuesday 3:45 PM (in the car, driving on I495 northbound) - Alan looks over at Ly and notices that she is turning blue; Alan and Rory try to yell and shake her awake, but nothing happens
Tuesday 3:46 PM - Alan dials 911 & states that Ly stopped breathing, gives his location and begins CPR on Ly while in the car
Tuesday 3:55 PM - After several cycles of CPR Ly, while still unconscious, begins to breathe on her own again. Emergency services arrive.
Tuesday 4:20 PM - Alan and Ly arrive at hospital ER via ambulance and are immediately admitted
Tuesday 10:00 PM - After several hours of testing the doctors conclude that Ly has pneumonia and needs to be admitted to the hospital
Tuesday 11:00 PM - Ly is finally admitted and settles in her hospital room; she begins antibiotic treatment for pneumonia
Wednesday 3:00 PM - Doctors decide that Ly stopped breathing because of a combination of pneumonia and narcotic pain medicine sensitivity. The doctors expect that she will stay in the hospital two to three more days until her pneumonia clears up

Needless to say, it's been a long couple of days. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and support.

And the adventure begins

Since Ly's attempt to convince both Alan + her dad to go to Philadelphia instead of the hospital for her ankle surgery this morning epically failed, the three of them have loaded everything into the car and are en route to the hospital.

Updates will come as time permits.

Hospital Bound

Despite numerous "escape" plans, Ly + Alan are off to Fairfax Hospital for Ly's surgery. Hopefully this time we won't become long term residents and Ly can sleep comfortably (sort of) in her own bed soon enough. Good thoughts sent our way are greatly appreciated.

Fall Musings

The air is crisp*, the leaves are turning various shades of red, and apples are ready for the picking. Fall is in the air. The shorts, skirts, and sandals are put away in boxes awaiting next year's sunshine (or perhaps an upcoming trip to SD) and sweaters, gloves, and scarves are lining the closet shelves. Fall is one of the best times of the year simply because it is the season before Christmas...and we all know how a certain member of the Lee household LOVES Christmas.

Fall in New England** is especially great because the trees change colors, the animals are easier to spot and you can go apple picking. Then you can make your own apple pie with the apples. This year it seems as if Ly will be unable to make it out to the orchard for some apple picking fun - so she'll have to wait an entire year for the next season. She is very sad although realizes that worse things have happened to her such as:

1. Calling a child the wrong name in front of their parent...after you've been teaching them for a year
2. Dropping a cell phone in the toilet
3. Forgetting to study for a huge test
4. Watching a very scary movie and thinking that someone was hiding behind the drivers seat with a knife ready to stab you while you were driving...for a month.
5. Establishing a personal relationship with the Mexican police

As of tomorrow afternoon, Ly will be able to add a sixth thing to the above list:

6. Having more surgeries during her marriage than the number of years she's been married.

Anyway go enjoy the fall and drink a cup of hot chocolate...or if you live on the west coast go to the bookstore and drink a cup of hot chocolate and pretend it's fall because let's face it, B&N is always freezing cold anyway.

*for the longest time I was unaware of how something intangible could be considered "crisp"...however many fifth graders informed me this afternoon that it is.

**Technically we live in the Mid Atlantic Region. Just for the record.

A Friday Afternoon Outing

Today marks one week since Ly's rather eventful left shoulder surgery...and it seems that things are finally starting to improve - a bit. Her pain has decreased (at least she has good meds) and Ly is able to sleep more than a few hours a night. Ly is very appreciative that her husband is so patient and understanding and that he stayed home the entire week with her -- he is going to be an awesome doctor one day.

Alan's work at the NIH announced that this week is restaurant week in Bethesda. Bethesda is well known for its dining out scene and has tons of restaurants that both Ly and Alan have wanted to try for awhile now. What better time then restaurant week during which all the restaurants offer special price fix menus for lunch/dinner.

In order to help Ly get rid of her blues of being stuck inside and celebrate her feeling better-ness, Alan and Ly decided to take advantage of restaurant week. So after perusing the list of dining destinations, Ly and Alan settled on McCormik and Schmick's. Ly got all dolled up (yay for clothes that are not pajamas for once!) and off they went. They had a tasty two course lunch special. Ly had lobster ravioli in a cream sauce with some asparagus and carrots on the side with a chocolate torte topped with raspberry sauce. Alan on the other hand, ordered swordfish with a lemon sauce and a cup of crab soup. Both enjoyed their meals thoroughly and highly recommend either dish to anyone.

Ly certainly enjoyed her afternoon out and about!

AWOL Part 2

Despite Ly's efforts to go AWOL the other day from her hospital extravaganzas, certain people (read: Alan) swooped in and ruined her plan. So off she went to the hospital where Ly and Alan spent a few days basting in the glory of overnight hospitalization. Rather than dwelling on the unpleasantness of the situation (lack of privacy, "gourmet" food, slight medical emergencies and lots and lots of needles) the Lees are proud to report the surgery was an apparent success.

Ly was finally discharged a few days ago and is now resting (un)comfortably at home and hoping she will be back on the tennis courts in no time.

AWOL

idiom: go AWOL
a. Absent Without Leave
b. to absent oneself without explanation as in:

Instead of going to the hospital, Ly plans on going AWOL tomorrow afternoon.

To the heart of the matter

Today was Alan's best day. Okay maybe not as good as his wedding, day but a close second. Today Alan saw a real live beating heart. In person. And it was amazing.

It all started because Alan's lab at the NIH began working with Georgetown University Hospital. GUH provides Alan with some cancer samples (AKA tumor just taken out of a person) that he analyzes and does all sorts of scientific things to in so he can help discover the cure for cancer. Anyway, this morning Alan had to go to the hospital to pick up a sample. Apparently the surgery was taking a little longer (shocking) than usual and Alan was escorted to the waiting room. After waiting for awhile, a nurse emerged and instead of a sample in her hand she had a stack of disposable operating room attire. She handed the clothes to Alan and told him that the doctor wanted to talk to him.

Alan quickly changed and followed the nurse into the OR. There lying on the table was a patient, chest open, heart exposed and beating. The doctor kicked over a stool, indicated that Alan should stand on the stool, then proceeded to give him a 5 minute anatomy lesson of the chest cavity and heart. And it was while Alan was watching a heart rhythmically roll and tirelessly pumping less than 2 feet away that he discovered Heaven on Earth.

When Alan got home, Ly was forced to listen as he recounted every single detail of the operating room/beating heart. And while she attempted to share in his enthusiasm, she couldn't help but wonder if a guy had ever run home to his wife as excited as Alan was after witnessing one of her many operations. Maybe just once.