Well, as usual, plans continue to change. I talked to Barbara's surgeon last night via email and she decided she wanted to see her today (she is out starting Thursday for the next 6 days) mainly to look at the dressing around her feeding tube. One of the nurses in the hospital put an interesting device around where that tube comes out of her abdomen to contain any oozing from the opening there and it has been on for over two weeks and was starting to bother her. We also discussed the timing for the next "leak" test and she thinks it would be a waste of time to do it on Friday given that she is still showing some leakage into the drain today. We went in today and actually saw the surgeon which shows her dedication to her patients given I was told over the phone this morning that we would likely see one of her staff given how busy she was today. She had multiple patients scheduled at the same time most of the day, but actually came in to see us twice while we were there.
When we got there, we had a very short wait and saw the doctor as soon as the nurse had taken her latest information down. She looked at the tube dressing and then got a nurse to come in and remove it, clean it up and make sure there was no real problem. Her skin under it was irritated, but otherwise looked fine. It is clearly sensitive and sore right now, but no other issue. The surgery incision is healing nicely, so other than the leak, everything is going well.
The doctor reiterated that doing the test on Friday was likely a waste of time and given our long drive, she does not want us to have to make the trip if we already know the answer. I agree completely given it is 5 hours in the car for the round trip. One of the disadvantages of living so far from things. She decided at that point that it would be best for us to call in on Friday with the leakage amount (none would be ideal, but unlikely in my opinion) and then the nurse we talk to would contact her and she would decide what to do from there.
The doctor still feels confident it will seal itself although to be honest, I am less confident of that given the leakage today was about the same as yesterday. While doing this entry, I got a call from the doctor's office saying we had a test scheduled for Monday just in case it is needed, but it can easily be canceled on Friday if necessary. If it is still showing some leakage on Friday, I would guess we would call back on Monday with new numbers. We currently have an appointment with her next Friday, so by then, we should have a better idea what is coming next if there is no progress in the leak stopping. More waiting which is getting old, but as long as it all works out, we can't really complain especially given the Chemo results.
The other change is that the sisters that were coming later this week had to cancel because one of them was in a car accident and needs a little time to recover from what I think are mainly burns from the air bags. From what I understand, it was a very serious accident and we are all just very thankful that she was not injured any more than she was. It sounds like the burns could become a serious problem if not watched closely and properly treated, so that is the top priority. Of course we were looking forward to the visit and distraction, but making sure she recovers properly is much more important than a visit to see us. Some of her other sisters are also planning to come when they can and the two that were scheduled are planning to reschedule when they can, but nothing firm yet. Of course, our schedule is still very much up in the air as well as you can see from above. Hopefully we will know a lot more after meeting with her Oncologist on Thursday and the surgeon on Friday next week if we do not know more before that. As I get more info, I will put out updates.
Wayne
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