Surgery to Close up an Artery

Don't know what to write tonight.  This morning Andrea had a kind of surgery in her bed, it was something they had been wondering about awhile and decided to go ahead with it.  Sometimes when a risky heart surgery is expected, the doctors want to have instant access to major arteries, so they will do a "cut down", exposing an artery so if necessary it is right there.  Well Andrea had an artery "cutdown" when her VAD was installed, but because of her anti rejection drugs, steroids etc it was slow in healing up.  they were not very concerned about infection because it is right where lymphatic fluid  flows, which is a part of your immune system, but it was so slow to heal, that today a surgeon cleaned up the wound and stitched it closed.  So now no showers for 10 days, and today she needed to be careful to not bend that leg too soon.  Even so, PT came in and got Andrea into the bed that moves her from lying down to standing.  It was very painful at first, her leg muscles have not had any real job, or the strength to stand for nearly 3 months, but she had a half of a popsicle while standing, and actually stood nearly vertical for 14 minutes.  It was quite obvious that she managed standing like this much better than a week ago.  Tomorrow her dialysis is to start at 11 AM, so we will possibly get her up in the wheelchair or in the standing bed before that.  And now it is time for bed.

 

Goodnight, Maynard