So True . . .

Tuesday update

Yesterday Jennie went to the Doctors office in Owensboro because we thought her incision might be infected. The Doctor gave her an antibiotic and took some cultures as he felt it was infected also. Hopefully this antibiotic will kick the infection quickly, as it is causing Jennie's abdomen to swell more which is quite painful.

We were able to get her out quite a bit this weekend, we even made a short trip to Walmart! I think her recovery is still going well, but I am not sure if we will be able to remove half the staples at the end of the week as we planned. I guess we will just have to see what the rest of this week is like.

I went back to Louisville yesterday and am trying to get things in order to go back to work tomorrow.

We made it!!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we made it into Owensboro late last night. We are all exhausted from the long drives, and Jennie has slept most of the day today. Hopefully after a day or two of resting we can get her moving and back on the way to recovery again.

We are halfway home . . .

I just wanted to let everyone know we made it to Rockford, IL. It took about 7 hours driving with a few short breaks, and we had to drive through heavy rain almost the whole way.

Jennie was a real trooper and is determined to make it home tomorrow, even though she is in more pain than she was last time. Driving in rain also makes her very nervous, so today was bad and it looks like tomorrow will be too.

Anyway, hopefully we will be in Owensboro tomorrow night, and I may begin posting just every few days, as the progress is likely to be slow. Thanks again for all the support, we look forward to seeing many of you soon.

Meeting with the Dr.

This morning we met with Dr. Sutherland. He was pleased with Jennie's progress, and was happy to hear that things were going well. He took out the top 6 staples, in an effort to let the incision drain and avoid an infection.

Other than that, the trip over there wore Jennie out and she has slept much of the afternoon. On a positive note, she was able to eat a few grapes and a small amount of cheese, which is a step in the right direction. It didn't seem to bother her too badly, and hopefully she can begin eating more normally over the next week or so.

The plan is to leave here early in the morning. We will see if we make it in two days. It is almost a week earlier than we have left in the past, and I don't know if Jennie will be able to tolerate 7 or 8 hours of driving a day.

I will likely post tomorrow night after we stop, just to update on how far we made it. Thanks again for the prayers and support and we hope to see many of you soon!

Sleep . . .

Jennie's first day back at the hotel has been uneventful for the most part, and consisted mostly of sleeping. She is still waking every 2 hours for pain medicine, which keeps her from getting any deep sleep, but she is exhausted.

She still hasn't been able to really eat anything, just a few crackers with some water. Hopefully we can get the reflux and heartburn under control that she might be able to eat something tomorrow. We will be getting some Boost shakes to try, hoping that they will give her some of the nutrients she needs to continue healing.

Tomorrow we will let her rest again for much of the day, as Tuesday we have the Doctors appointment and we will likely begin the journey home on Wednesday. This will be a long and painful week for Jennie.

Pray that the appointment goes well on Tuesday, maybe she will be able to begin eating again by then!!

We're out of here!!

Dr. Singh just came in and gave us the offical news, Jennie is getting out of the hospital!! We will be staying in Minneapolis for a least a few days, as we have an appointment with Dr. Sutherland on Tuesday morning, but getting out of the hospital is a major step in the right direction.

Dr. Singh is concerned about the fact that Jennie isn't eating much yet and he was worried about stopping the IV nutrition, but he decided it would be ok if we get the check-in with Dr. Sutherland on tuesday. If there are any additional needs for nutrition they can be addressed on that day.

Anyway, I know Jennie will be much more comfortable and will be able to rest better out of here and away from nurses checking in every few hours. Hopefully we can be on the way home by the middle of the week, although I am sure it will take at least 2 or 3 days to drive back.

Thanks again to everyone for the prayers and support, it has made the last few weeks much easier.

Recovery Day 7

It is amazing how much improvement Jennie has in just a week! Late yesterday they switched Jennie of to oral pain meds with a short acting injectible Duladid available for breakthrough pain, and it seems to be working pretty well. She still has a lot of heartburn and the doctors are still trying to address that.

The only real issue keeping her in here is the TPN, and the fact that she can't eat much yet to keep her nutrition up without it. The doctors did say she can leave when she wants, but we are worried that her nutrition will suffer if we leave too soon. Hopefully we can discuss this with the doctors again when they come in this afternoon.

Hopefully Jennie will be leaving the hospital within the next few days, although it will still be several days before we leave Minneapolis to give her more time to heal in the Hotel before the long Ride home. I think the drive and all the bumps along the way really set her back, and I know it is very painful.

Thank you all for the prayers, calls, and support.

Recovery Day 6

Again today has been a fairly good day for Jennie. Some of the food she ate yesterday caused some heartburn, so they are going to switch her Protonix to 2 times a day orally instead of once a day through IV. They also told her she can take TUMS as needed, and they seemed to help some today.

She didn't get much sleep last night because of a headache, but we were able to get rid of that and she got to sleep for a few hours. She has also been good about getting out and going for walks on the floor, and they are gradually getting longer each day.

The only real cause for concern is that she had some sharp pain under her left ribs today, around where the stomach is. We haven't seen a doctor yet today to ask about this, so we aren't sure what it means. It could be that this is normal as her stomach begins to heal and work properly again, or it could be the first sign of a problem. We really won't know until we get to talk to the doctors, and they may want to run some tests to look into it further.

Recovery Day 5

I apologize for not posting earlier, I spent the night with Jennie last night and wanted to wait until we had heard from the Doctor this afternoon before posting.

Today has been another good day for Jennie. She has been moving more, and the pain is still staying tolerable for the most part. She had the catheter taken out yesterday, so she has been forced to get up every several hours, which I think will speed the recovery along.

She has also been allowed to switch over to a full liquid diet, so we are slowly trying Jello, fruit ice, and pudding. So far most of it has gone ok, but she is getting a lot of heartburn with food. We will be taking eating slowly, and the doctors seem pleased with the progress, as are we.

Jennie did pull an abdominal muscle last night when she jerked in her sleep, so that is keeping it sorer than it would otherwise be. There was some talk about switching her over to oral pain meds tomorrow, but we convinced the doctor to wait another day after all the problems we had in March making that transition.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support. All in all it was a good day, and hopefully with a few more she can be out of the hospital!!

Recovery Day 4

Jennie is feeling less pain today and her blood levels are up since the transfusion yesterday, however she has been running a slight fever since last night and is coughing a lot. The doctors are unsure at this point if it is an infection or Pneumonia, and will wait until the blood and urine cultures they took last night come back before they try to address it.

Hopefully tomorrow they will be back and it can be treated regardless of the findings. Overall I think her health is still fairly good, and hopefully this won't be too much of a setback.

Recovery Day 3

Jennie is still doing well, her pain has been under control and she has been able to get a lot of rest. They started her on the TPN last night, and it has raised her blood sugar somewhat, but not enough to be alarmed. They have tried to address it through the insulin shots, and I am sure they will get it better under control with a little more time.

The doctor came in a few minutes ago and informed us that her Hemoglobin has dropped just a little bit to 7.8, so they are going to give her a few units of blood to raise it again. The doctor didn't seem to think Jennie had any bleeding issues internally, but that the levels had just dropped a little over the weekend and he wanted to get it higher to help with the recovery. They will also be giving another dose of lasix, although Jennie is starting to loose some of the fluids naturally, so hopefully that won't be needed much longer.

Other than that, it has just been a good morning, and we will be getting up and doing some walking this afternoon. Thanks again for all the prayers and support, I have read every comment and appreciate knowing that everyone is thinking about us. For those of you who wanted the address, I have included it below. Please remember to only send cards, we are limited in room and there are a lot of restrictions as to what is accepted on the floor also.

Fairview Medical Center

420 Delaware Street SE

Floor 7C Room 409 - Jennie Boggess

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Day 2

Jennie had a better night once we were able to get her pain medicine increased. The lasix helped to get some of the fluid off, and they will be giving her another dose to try and reduce the swelling even more.

The Doctors came in to day and decided to remove her NG tube since it hasn't produced hardly anything since the surgery, hopefully she doesn't get nauseous with it out. They will also be starting her on TPN today, which is the IV nutrition, and have cut her other fluids back to try and reduce the swelling also.

Rita already had Jennie out of bed when I got here and they had walked out into the hall along with sitting in a chair for a while. I think her progress is remarkable, especially given how difficult the last two surgeries have been. Hopefully we won't face any major setbacks and she will be out of here in a week or so, I know she would much rather be away from the hospital as quickly as possible.

Thanks again for all the prayers, calls, and support. We greatly appreciate it and it helps immensely.

Update

Apparently Dr. Sutherland was so upset about the events that he decided to come down here today on his day off and stop in to check on Jennie. He came by a few minutes ago to see exactly how Jennie was and reiterated to us that he could increase the pain medicine if need be, and to just let the nurses know because he would make sure the orders were put in if she needed it.

I can't help but be grateful that Jennie is in the hands of such a skilled and compassionate surgeon. I don't know too many doctors that would actually take the initiative to come in on their day off, especially after having a very long day yesterday (and I am sure the rest of the week).

With that being said, I think that Jennie's pain is a little better this afternoon, she seems to be sleeping more soundly. The nurse also gave her a dose of Ativan, which is an anxiety medicine that seems to be helping her relax and sleep better. The lasix seem to be getting some fluid off, however she is still very swollen.

Please continue to pray for Jennie, hopefully she will continue to make progress and the pain will stay under control.

Day One Update

Ok, so you can scratch the whole idea about switching her to oral pain meds. Dr. Sutherland nixed that idea, and I think Dr. Singh is upset I went over his head. Oh well, it's what is best for Jennie.

Other than that, I think everything else will be adjusted as I posted earlier. The pain consult is still set for Monday, I just hope Jennie can make it until then.

Day One

Last night was a rough night for Jennie. Her pain medicine levels were too low and she suffered most of the night as we tried to get the Doctors to increase it little by little. Today seems to have gotten her pain at least to tolerable levels, although she still is having difficulty getting any rest.

They have requested a pain consult to see if a pain specialist will have any other suggestions or if they would be willing to bump her pain medicine up just a little more, unfortunately pain consults are only available Monday - Friday. To try to make it until then, the doctor said he will discontinue her continuous rate pain medicine and put her back on her oral pain meds she had at home but keep the PCA pump for breakthrough pain relief. They will be giving her these medicines by crushing them and putting them through her NG tube.

I am not sure that putting medicine into a stomach that was just operated on is a good idea, but the Surgeon that operated with Dr. Sutherland seems to think it will work and that it may help control it better. Time will tell, unless Dr. Sutherland has another idea when he is consulted by phone.

She has also started swelling quite a bit, just as she has for each of the previous surgeries, and they will be giving her lasix later to try and get some of the fluid off. There also was some miscommunication about the acceptable blood sugar levels, but the doctor that just came in will be adjusting the scale some to prevent her blood sugar from getting too high.

I just hope and pray that they are able to help with the pain some so that Jennie can get some rest. I think if we can get her feeling just a little better we can get her moving quicker and hopefully out of the hospital a day or two sooner.

Up to her room . . .

We finally got Jennie moved into a room and got to see her for the first time. This time her room is on the Surgical Oncology floor, which we are not sure why they chose this floor. We are afraid once she begins to heal and move around more that the low moral and demeanor on the floor could impede her recovery, but I hope we are wrong.

On the plus side, she does look better this time compared to the last two surgeries. Her color is a little better, and she seems to be in a little less pain than the previous times. That is not to say that she doesn't have a long way to go, but it is the little signs :-) Anyway, I hope she is able to sleep tonight and will be well on the way to recovery soon.

She made it!!

Dr. Sutherland came out a few minutes ago and told us that the surgery is complete and that Jennie should be making her way to recovery shortly. Dr. Sutherland thinks the surgery went well and hopefully there will be a noticeable improvement within several weeks as Jennie begins to heal.

He elected not to do the liver biopsy he was planning on, he said because he was concerned about bleeding. He was also on his way to another case, and he said her blood sugar stayed low the entire surgery without any insulin. I think both of these may have been factors in him choosing not to do the biopsy as well.

Anyway, the surgery is over and now she can begin to recover. I expect her to be out of it for the next day or two, but hopefully she will notice a difference as she begins to heal and trys to eat in the next few days and weeks. Keep praying that this surgery will have finally made her pain tolerable and that she will heal quickly.

Surgery update

Dr. Sutherland just poked his head out briefly to give us an update. They just completed the stomach removal and will be working to attach the remaining portion to the Duodenum when he goes back in. He noted that there was a large amount of swelling and inflammation, possibly from the reflux. He warned us that it was taking somewhat longer than he anticipated, but that everything was going fine so far.

Dr. Sutherland also said that the site around where he performed the Subtotal Colectomy was also very inflamed, and he wasn't sure if this was related to the reflux or not. He doesn't see any other issues at this point, but he did tell us due to the prior surgeries he was going very slowly to avoid any further damage and to ensure everything is done properly to avoid any additional surgeries.

We appreciate all the prayers and support, and hope to have some good news in a few more hours.

Surgery has begun . . .

Jennie's surgery began this morning at about 7:30, and Dr. Sutherland told us to expect it to last 3 or 4 hours, possibly a bit longer depending on exactly what they find. We did get some good news that her islet cells seem to be functioning very well after the boost test on Wednesday. Her insulin production is just below the normal range, which it seems is better than Dr. Sutherland expected after the transplant last summer.

Today in addition to the Roux-En-Y procedure, Dr. Sutherland will take care of any adhesions he finds and do a liver biopsy. Dr. Sutherland told us that many of the patients he has to perform this surgery on notice a difference almost immediately, and I think that we are all hoping that happens with Jennie.

Jennie of course was very nervous this morning, as we are, but we all hope that this will be the last surgery for a long time and that she will finally be able to reduce the pain medicine and get back into school or whatever she wants to do. If this makes it so that she can actually live life again it will have all been worth it.

Please keep Jennie in your prayers, hopefully the surgery will be done in a few hours and she can begin to recover.

From Jennie

Hi everyone! This is Jennie. I wanted to write and let you all know how grateful I am for your thoughts and prayers. With the surgery tomorrow, we are getting, as you can well imagine, a little nervous. But in hopes of soothing some of my dear husband's fears we have found a midnight showing of "GI Joe" that we will be attending tonight. To everyone reading this post, you have all been a very important piece of our lives and we would not be the couple we are today, nor as happy with our lives as we are today without you. Thank you for all of your support, your prayers, and, of course, for the many hugs and cards. As tomorrow morning approaches, I will be thinking of you all and praying that you have a blessed day. Thank you in advance for your love and prayers, and I ask only that you continue to hold my family and my sweet Andy as they deal with the numerous hours in the hospital and waiting rooms.
With lots of love and hugs, Jennie

Meeting with the Doctor

Today we met with Dr. Sutherland and discussed the surgery in more length. He believes that this surgery should absolutely fix the remaining pain and digestive issues that Jennie has, and talked briefly with us about several other patients he has had to perform this surgery on after their Pancreatectomy. He also mentioned that he was glad we had not attempted to do the Roux-En-Y back in March along with the Subtotal Colectomy because of the complications we had with that surgery afterwords.

Jennie's surgery is scheduled for Friday morning, and we have to be at the Hospital at 5:30. It will be Dr. Sutherland's first case of the day, which has been the case both other times, and should help to get the surgery started on time. Dr. Sutherland gave us an estimate of 3-4 hours for this surgery, however both of the previous surgeries went well past the estimates we were given, so I expect it to take somewhat longer than that. He also mentioned that he expected this surgery to be pretty difficult, and it is much more involved than the Subtotal Colectomy was in March. This was not very comforting to hear, especially after that surgery ended up having lots more complications than we expected. Jennie's blood work was drawn today as well, and her hemoglobin levels were a little on the low side, so a blood transfusion will most likely be necessary on Friday.

On a side note, today was the first time that they have accessed the Powerport that was put in last month. It was much easier to do once we found a nurse who was familiar with the port, and it only took two attempts which is much better than the 15 tries it took last time.

We made it!

After two long days of traveling, we made it into Minneapolis late last night. We are staying at the same hotel as last time, and it was really sad to know that I didn't need a map to get to the hotel or to Target to buy groceries. I think that is definitely a sign we have been here too much!!

Anyway, we are planning on just relaxing and getting settled in today, we will start the pre-op testing tomorrow morning bright and early. We have to be at the hospital at 5:30 on Friday, so the next few days will be early mornings for us. Just wish us well, I will try to begin posting regularly again!

Another day, a little bit better.

Now that Jennie has gotten out of the Hospital she is finally able to rest a bit more, which seems to be helping her recover a bit quicker. The only down side is that she takes her pain medicine every two hours, so she isn't sleeping long periods of time without having to wake up and take more medicine.

Last night she wanted to go out to eat, and we decided to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory just a few blocks from our hotel. The trip there was very painful, as the roads up here are very rough, but Jennie handled it very well and we came back and played Uno for a while.

Today we have just let her rest mostly, and I doubt we will venture out of the hotel in the next day or two to prepare for the trip home on Wednesday. Our plan is to go see Dr. Sutherland that morning and leave straight from there. I don't know if we will make it half way or not, but hopefully we can make it back to Owensboro by Thursday night.

Moving on Out . . .

For those of you that have been following the blog, Jennie did get discharged today as we expected. She is still very sore and we will be staying here until the middle of the week to have another appointment with Dr. Sutherland on Wednesday.

Not much else to report, hopefully Jennie will get some better rest here without being interrupted constantly by nurses, which should help a lot with her recovery.

Day 10

Dr. Sutherland just left, and it sounds like Jennie will be getting out tomorrow barring any major setbacks!!

Jennie is still in a lot of pain, and today they have switched her totally to oral meds. They are a larger dose than she was on prior to entering the hospital last week, but still less than they were when she left the Hospital after her surgery in June. Hopefully they will re-evaluate her levels and bump them up some so she can be more comfortable.

Dr. Sutherland also talked briefly about the pain she is still experiencing after eating, and suggested a test called a hidoscan we should have run to determine exactly what the source of pain is. He gave us the option of doing the test early next week up here or doing it once we get back to KY, and we chose the latter.

Please continue to pray, Jennie still has a long way to recover after she gets out of the Hospital tomorrow!

Days 8 and 9

I am sorry I neglected to post yesterday, but I had a terrible migraine and went to bed very early. On the flip side, that meant that I woke up early today and managed to beat the doctors in for once.

Jennie had a very bad day yesterday, they tried to switch her to her oral pain meds, with the PCA still available for breakthrough. Unfortunately, the orders were written incorrectly and she went without pain meds for about an hour. Needless to say, it took quite a while to get her pain back under control, and from about 10 yesterday morning until almost 3 she was in severe pain. They did finally get the pain under control, but it took a long time and she was worn out afterwords.

Today Jennie is in a lot less pain and has just been sleeping so far this morning. The doctors came in about 7:30. Her incision looks good, and they will be giving her antibiotics until she is able to be released, hopefully on Saturday!!

Thats right, they said tentatively Saturday she could be released, and we would set up an appointment with Dr. Sutherland for early next week. Hopefully this time table will stick, I know Jennie is looking forward to being out of here. Keep praying that Jennie will recover from the surgery quickly, and that this surgery did fix the pain she has been having the last few months.

Day 7

So there isn't much progress to report today. Jennie's diet did not change, and she is hurting some today, possibly from the incision being opened yesterday.

She is still making small progress and is still moving around, but her pain level going up some today has us slightly worried. Unfortunately the Doctors came in very early today, so we were unable to get their take on it.

I am hoping to get over there earlier tomorrow morning, and hopefully I will be able to catch the doctors to get a better feel for what they are thinking. Until then, keep Jennie in your prayers!

Day 6

Again today Jennie is doing well. They started her on clear liquids today, so Jennie has been drinking apple juice all day. We found a juice last time, Nantucket Nectars, that has the most incredible apple juice. The only other thing she can have that she will eat is red jello, but she doesn't like the generic kind they have at the hospital, so we had to bring some over for her this afternoon.

The doctors did feel that her incision needed to drain, so today they opened it up a little at the bottom. They did all this without giving her any additional pain meds, and I could tell it hurt quite a bit. Not only did they cut the wound back open, but then they also pulled it apart a little in order to get as much fluid as possible out. That being said, Jennie's pain was much more this afternoon than it was yesterday, but her stomach was beginning to swell and become red, so it definitely needed to drain. I only hope that nothing further will need to be done at the incision site and that it can heal over the next few days.

Jennie was also somewhat more tired today, so I tried to let her sleep a lot of the time I was there. It seems that she is able to sleep better during the day while we are there because the nurses leave her alone more than they do overnight.

The draining is an issue we have known about for a day or two, and was even speculated about right after the surgery, so it was expected and shouldn't be a major setback in her recovery. If they didn't allow it to drain there was the risk it could become infected, and her pain seemed higher today due to the swelling, so I think it should actually make her feel better pretty quickly.

We ask for your continued prayers, the doctors are talking about taking her off of the TPN and allowing her to try soft solids tomorrow, which will really begin to tell us if her colon has healed enough yet for her to leave the hospital in a few days.

Day 5

Again today Jennie seems to be doing pretty well. She didn't get much sleep last night, so she has slept quite a bit, but her pain seems to be a little better.

The doctors said they will try her on clear liquids tomorrow, which will be a major step towards her getting out of here. They are hoping that she will be out of here before the weekend, which we would be very happy with.

While the doctors were in they did mark a few places along her incision that were red and puffy. The doctors don't seem to think this is an infection at this point, but they wanted to mark it so they know to monitor it over the next few days.

Jennie has already been on 2 walks today down the hall and back, and also sat in the reclining chair for an few hours. Each day she seems to be doing more and more, and her progress is much quicker than it was after the last surgery.

Day 4

Again today Jennie is doing pretty well. She is experiencing a little more pain than yesterday, but they seem to think it may be because of her digestive tract beginning to work again, and the nurses have noting some sounds indicating this may be the case.

I was able to get her to go for a decent walk down the hall today, and occupational therapy came in and worked with her shortly afterwards. The doctor mentioned this morning that he will start a TPN, a bag of nutrients given through IV, tonight or tomorrow. I hope this goes ok, last time the TPN messed with her blood sugar levels quite a bit.

All in all, today has been another good day. So far the Doctors haven't mentioned when we might leave, but I would be surprised if She is still in the hospital next weekend at this time. Keep praying for a quick recovery, hopefully this will be the last surgery for a long time!

Day 3

Today Jennie continues to make a lot of progress, and the doctors are impressed with how quickly she is advancing. They were able to take her NG tube out, which has made her much more comfortable. Her blood pressure has finally dropped back to the normal range and her pulse has come down some too.

Jennie was able to take a walk down the hall and back, as well as getting out of bed to sit in a chair for a while, both very good for just a few days after abdominal surgery. Her pain seems to have lowered a little also, and she is sleeping much better than before.

We appreciate all the calls, emails and posts, I promise I am passing them on to Jennie! Please continue to keep her in your prayers, hopefully she will heal quickly and be on her way back home soon.

Day 2

Jennie is recovering very well today. The doctors adjusted her pain meds and gave her lasix to get some of the fluid off, and both seem to have worked very well. Her pain is still high, but she is aware enough today to find the NG tube irritating, which is a good sign.

Physical Therapy came in today and had her sit on the edge of the bed. They also asked us to try and get her to walk a little today, and we did manage to get her to walk to the door and back. When Dr. Sutherland came in later he was surprised we had been able to make that much progress, but getting Jennie up and moving was good for her recovery.

Her Hemoglobin had dropped some today, so they gave her two more units of blood. All in all, I feel like her recovery is going better this time than last, and we can only hope and pray that it continues that way.

And Recovery begins . . .

I am sorry to have not posted again last night, but they didn't get Jennie into her room until after 10 pm, and we only got to spend a short time with her before heading back to the hotel.

Jennie looks much better than she did after the last surgery, but she is very swollen and hurting a lot. Her blood pressure is still up, but that is likely attributed to the pain meds and the extra fluid she has right now. The doctors are hoping that the fluid will come off itself, and are hoping to avoid giving her a diuretic to reduce the swelling.

Jennie is in the transplant unit again, just like last time, so hopefully she will continue to have the high level of nursing care from last time. The doctor said hopefully her recovery will be quicker this time, but it is still too early to really tell how quickly it will go.

Jennie's address here is below if you are interested in sending a card. I am sure hearing from everyone would lift her spirits in a few days once she gets to feeling a little better. They won't accept flowers on her floor, and we are limited on space to travel home, so please no gifts. Thank you in advance.

Fairview Medical Center

420 Delaware Street SE

Floor 6D Room 506 - Jennie Boggess

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Surgery is Done!

Dr. Sutherland came out a few minutes ago and told us that they were wheeling Jennie to recovery. He said that the colon was even larger and more inflamed than he had thought from the images, and that he clearly thought that was her problem.

He removed all but about a foot of the colon, which should be enough to prevent Jennie from having any long term issues. He had taken some pictures and showed us, and it was very large, clearly not normal. He reiterated again that he felt this was a problem she had prior to the last surgery, and that it could have been another source of the pain she felt all along.

Jennie only had to have 2 units of blood this time, which is much better, and Dr. Sutherland felt that her recovery should be quicker and less major this time.

We appreciate all the calls, texts, e-mails and other forms of support. Please continue to keep Jennie in your thoughts and prayers, she still has a long way to go but hopefully the worst is behind us.

Deja Vu

So it seems like not so long ago that I was sitting in this waiting room in Minnesota waiting anxiously for Dr. Sutherland to tell us that Jennie's Surgery went well, and here I find myself less than a year later back in the same place.

For the few who may not know, the surgery Dr. Sutherland talked about months ago has become necessary, and Jennie is having a subtotal colectomy (removal of part of the colon). Her pain the last few months had digressed to where it was before her pancreatectomy in June and Dr. Sutherland feels that this is due to her colon damage. We aren't as confident as he is, but I guess that can happen after frequently getting our hopes up time after time.

Jennie's surgery was at 9:30 this morning and it is 1:30 as I type this with no word as of yet. We were warned yesterday that he expected the surgery to take about 2.5 or 3 hours, but that it could vary depending on the extent of damage and anything else he might find while operating. They also didn't take her into the operating room until 9:45, so they were a little behind schedule to begin with.

This surgery is supposed to be much less dangerous, but the recovery time can still take up to 2 weeks in the hospital, so we may be up here almost as long this time also.

We are all getting nervous and anxious as it takes longer and longer for us to hear word, hopefully there haven't been any complications. If taking longer this time will avoid further problems, it will be worth the wait.

Please keep Jennie in your prayers, I will post later once we know more.