Operation

The following is an email from my friend whose wife underwent surgery last week. Please pray for them...


She had her operation on Thursday. As on previous occasions, she was wheeled into the theatre singing aloud 'In thee O Lord do I put my trust'. Amazing - and quite an experience for the theatre technicians ! She was 'away' for five and a half hours. As expected, it proved to be a very serious operation indeed. and the surgeons told me that had serious anxieties for her. Three surgeons worked on her throughout the operation with other doctors in support.
Major complications arose as a result of her previous operations. This is not the time and place for too much detail, suffice to say that her remaining internal organs had to be surgically separated before the new stoma for her ileostomy could be fashioned.
It is mainly as a result of this that she is in so much pain. It was not medically possible to give her an epidural, so her main form of pain control is morphine. This is causing her to be very confused and distressed, all of which is compounded by her blindness which she is still adjusting to, of course. It is very hard for her not to have any idea where she is and what is going on around her. The hospital asked me to stay with her as much as possible, especially through the nights, so I have been doing that. I've done a 20 hour stint, had a six hour break, and now I have just come home from a 15 hour period with her. I am now going to grab some sleep before going back this afternoon.
The doctors say the next few days are critical to her recovery, but the encouraging news is that all the 'numbers' (temperature, blood pressure etc) are settling down. She has now been allowed to drink, but it will be some time before she can take any food, She remains very poorly, in a lot of pain and confusion, and in the high dependency unit, but we believe she will continue to improve.