- She is out of surgery and in recovery, the first set of people (Karen and Bob) will get to see her in half an hour or so when she's more alert.
- The tumor was larger than they expected and many of the surrounding lymph glands looked abnormal so they removed everything. It took a bit longer than expected and she probably has a pretty good sized scar.
- Her vocal chords were monitored by a neurologist during the surgery and they look unaffected, which is fantastic! We'll see how she feels in a couple days, until then she'll be hoarse from the ventilation. They used a really cool system for this that we'll try to write more about when we have more energy.
- The surgeon had to mess with her parathyroid more than he wanted, but as he expected. So she needs to spend the night while they monitor her calcium (Ca++) levels. Ca++ is an ion important for nerve function so low levels can cause that terrible pins and needles sensation and even some painful muscle spasms. They'll monitor it closely overnight and supplement as needed.
- She may need to wait six weeks before starting the radioiodine instead of starting in four due to the extent of the surgery, but we will know more later.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Katy is out of surgery!
The surgeon just came out to update us on Katy:
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Thank you Amy...you are really good at this...maybe u could get a job as a patient advicator bloggest ...
ReplyDeletereally ....I know it is hard for you and takes a lot of energy to re-communicate it in ways we can all understand too..
so maybe a job...but let's not make it a family habit...ok..much love AC