I know you're waiting...

...for an update on Steve. Well, here it is.

Bottom line: Your prayers worked. They were able to do the least invasive lithotripsy and zap not just the one stone lodged in the tube, but several of the others they could see in the right kidney.

Now, for the details. We never really knew what time the surgery was. Just that we were supposed to arrive at 7:30am. They called him back about 8:15 to get him prepped. I went back about 8:45 to sit with him until the doctor arrived. While we waited, we found out the surgery was actually supposed to be at 9:30. They went ahead and did another x-ray to see if the stone had moved and I left when the doctor arrived which was about 9:40. And then I went back to the waiting room to await the final verdict of whether he would be able to see the stone well enough to do the regular lithotripsy.

I did alot of work, read several magazines and even playing on my laptop a bit before the doctor came out about 11:30ish. He told me he was able to get them all and that Steve tolerated the surgery well and he just needed to make a follow up appt. next week. He told me that the some of the smaller bits of stones might pass with the stent still in and some might not until the stent was removed but he should be feeling better.

I waited another hour or so and they finally called me back to the "step down" unit which is where they go after "recovery". Typically you stay there for 30 minutes and then you are released. Well...apparently, with the pain meds they gave him before the surgery, the anesthesia and the anti-nausea meds they gave him after the surgery, he had a little bit of trouble coming around. Well, "little" is probably to put it mildly.

When I got there, he was obviously still WAY out of it. He was shivering despite the 3-4 blankets draped over him, he was moaning like he was in immense pain but said it was across his shoulders and his chest and he was nauseous. And he was rolling over and over in the recliner chair they set you in. The anesthesiologist reviewed his chart and confirmed he had no history of heart issues and said he wouldn't give him any pain medicine because he thought it was more of a reaction to the anesthesia than actual pain. This went on for quite some time...I'd cover him up good, he'd settle down for about 10 minutes and then he was moaning, rolling, complaining and saying he was going to be sick again. It got very frustrating. Of course, he didn't have any idea what he was doing.

Finally, the shift changed and we got a new nurse...Susie. She came in and when I told her he was cold, she said, "Well I can take care of that". She went and got what looked like an oversized floor vacuum and attached it to this plastic looking sheet. The machine blew warm air into the sheet for Steve. She also adjusted the recliner so it was lying down almost flat instead of sitting upright. In about 3 minutes, Steve was quiet, still and out like a light. His IV fluids were still hooked up and they'd come in every 1/2 hour to check his B/P and blood sugar. About 2:30, they came and said his blood pressure was bottoming out and they thought it was because he was in TOO deep of a sleep (guess so after 3+ hours in recovery!). They took his warm blanket contraption and made him get up and walk around. At that point, even though he was very tired, you could tell he was more himself.

They got him up one more time, made him drink some coke and got his BP up enough that we were discharged about 4:00. So, as you can imagine, it has been ONE LONG DAY for all of us.

Steve had dinner already (we ordered pizza) and now he's back in bed. I've got to go check on him and make sure he's OK. I'll admit, the issues he had in coming out of anesthesia really got to me because he's never had that reaction before. I doubt he'll make it to work tomorrow, but I probably will...

I'll have to catch you all up later on the parent/teacher conference...