5.10.21 Surgery Clinics

Quick rundown with more concrete details to follow soon, I hope. Ed and I tag teamed on a full day of tests and appointments today. 

Aimee had an abdominal x-ray and then met with the Reconstructive Pelvic Medicine surgeon to discuss options going forward for bowel care. Either an ileostomy or colostomy. The surgeon agreed that this is the right decision for going forward given the options we have tried, the infections, and the restrictive life it is all causing for Aimee. We either need to get this surgery done in the next week to 10 days or wait until the Fall. It would make recovery post spinal fusion MUCH easier if we could do it ahead of time. We are waiting to hear from the scheduler on if there is possibly any opening we could fit into in that timeframe. In the mean time the surgeon and the GI specialist will consult on which procedure would be best given Aimee’s motility. 

Next we met with the anesthesia clinic to review systems and discuss day of surgery details. They were on board with fitting in a GI surgery if possible. There are a few outstanding items, but overall we have the green light for both surgeries from anesthesia. 

Next we had spinal x-rays, which showed that all of Aimee’s hardware was intact. Aimee and Ed then met with the Pulmonologist and the Orthopedic surgeon for a pre-op. This was a lot of details about the surgery, the wound, the closure, the recovery in ICU, the recovery on the floor, ect. There are three main areas of concern: the wound, GI systems, and pulmonary. All of these are potential problems following this major operation and all are problem areas for Aimee in particular. We are all doing our best to have good plans and detailed directions in place, but some of it will just depend on Aimee and how her body responds and recovers. 

Lastly, we had lots of bloodwork done, which is always tricky on Aimee. She is a hard poke even for the experienced magicians at childrens. They are checking her bloodcounts, her carbon dioxide, her seizure medication levels, thyroid, ect. Lots of blood. 

Tomorrow, Aimee and I will meet with hematology to discuss her bloodcounts. We also hope to hear back from the surgery scheduling on if we can fit in the ostomy surgery or not.