12/24 - Jamie is out of surgery safely!! (from KC)

Jamie is out of surgery, and safe. Yayyyyyyyy!!!!!

She went into surgery for her Lumbar Sympathectamy this morning at around 7:30, so me, Nick, Roni, Sarah & Claire (two of Jamie's A-team friends) and of course, mom we're all visiting with Jamie before her surgery. They prepped us with all sorts of speeches about what they expect to happen and what could happen. They said that things should go smoothly, but that she was gonna be intubated (breathing with a tube down her throat with a machine) during surgery and there was a 5% chance that she might need to breath with that machine even after the surgery. They also mentioned how this kind of surgery can cause air to get into her abdomen because that's where her incision is. But all in all, I think we had a great team of people operating on Jamie, with Dr. Lin (Who I love) leading the way. So, we wished her luck and watched her get wheeled through the double doors and into the OR.

Then the family and I waited/slept/worked in the waiting room for Jamie to be done. Dr. Lin came into our waiting room about 2 1/2 hours later. He confidently strutted in and said that her surgery was a success and everything went smoothly. He restated all the post-surgery affects that Jamie would be feeling, like how there would be a 20% chance that her legs would feel a burning sensation because of the surgery. Essentially she hasn't had normal blood flow in her legs since before she got sick and with the surgery opening the "flood gates" and pumping more blood into her legs she might feel a burning.

But for now, Jamie is dozing in and out of sleep. But when she is awake, she is very communicative and with it. But she also dozes off pretty frequently because she is still heavily medicated from the surgery and for the pain, which she is still experiencing. She said that her tummy hurts from the actual incision, which is 3 inches above and below her belly button. But as for the leg burning, she says she hasn't felt anything like that yet. In fact, I just asked her if she was in any pain and she said no, which is better than when she first finished up her surgery and was wincing in pain... but then again, they did just give her some more morphine. Unfortunately she can't eat anything for the next 24 hours, so she's getting a heavy dose of spoon fed ice chips. Jamie is and will be pretty sore for the next 24 to 48 hours and because of this will not be moving around as much as she has been. But Jamie is very strong, and is doing an impressively good job. We hope that by friday Jamie will be easing back into her regular schedule, included diving in the hyperbaric chamber, wound care and physical therapy.

Once again, and most importantly this is an extremely tough time for Jamie and she needs major support ALWAYS!... so keep it coming. Happy Holidays from our family to yours. Thanks, KC