Out of Surgery

Brit arrived at Swedish Hospital at 11:00 this morning. Jon went back to the pre-op area while Cheryl and Rob waited.

At noon Jon traded places with Cheryl to accompany Brit to the Surgery Center. The anesthesiologist started the IV, the Heparin injection was given and Dr. Medwell arrived to discuss his main concern of the past 24 hrs; namely, the high likelihood of having to make a "T" incision to reach the anastimosis (previous surgical "connections"). He told Brit he'd not done a "T" cut in 31 years and didn't want to do one today. He had prepared us for a surgery lasting up to 3 hrs. At 1:15 Brit was taken to the operating room.

Jon, Cheryl, and Rob were joined by Grandma Barb, Papa Claude, Andrea, Kevin, Grandma and Grandpa Bailey.

At 2pm, Dr. Medwell came to the waiting area and said it had gone as well as he could have hoped for. He found that Brit has minimal scarring and adhesions after last year's surgeries. The top anastimosis had kinked and adhered so he created a new "huge" one. The lower anastimosis had slight adhesions which he snipped. He was very pleased with what he found.

We didn't get to see Brit until almost 4:30 because they had a hard time getting her pain controlled post operatively. Once it was under control, her room was flooded by those who were waiting and she did her best to interact. Mark arrived shortly after 6pm and received a bright and nearly lucid smile!

It's almost 10pm. It's been a long day, but we are a grateful family. Hugely relieved and very thankful to our Lord who hears and answers our prayers.