Surgery Update

We are home and doing well.

Perhaps I shouldn't get as nervous as I do with each surgery, but when our first neurosurgeon said to us "if you do another surgery, you will be a vegetable", that kind of weighs heavily on your mind each time you go into the operating room.

Things change over 9 years, and the pre-op process was a little different this time around with regards to washing routines and rules for eating.  We were lucky to be blessed with a 7:45 surgery time which meant no hard fasting time for Stefan.  We were up at 4:30 am on March 3rd to do Stefan's second scrub down before heading to the hospital.  I was very lucky that my sister Trudi came from Salmon Arm to stay with us for the week.  The kids adore her and it was one less thing for me to worry about.

The volunteer at Royal Columbia that day was an angel and would give me updates on if Stefan was out of OR and provided re-assuring words.  Stefan's sister and parents came by right when I got the news from Stefan's surgeon that Stefan was out of the OR and in recovery and that the surgery had gone well.  It was a relief when I saw him and we could confirm we had proved our first surgeon wrong again.  Stefan was speaking and moving - despite the drugs - he was not a vegetable (pause for old rugby boy jokes here)!

Stefan spent the first night under careful watch and was up and moving about by the morning.  We were very surprised when it was looking like we would be able to go home on the 5th!  I'm always very happy when we can go home since it's hard to split my energy between Stefan and the kids.  Stefan is always a bit worried, and I suppose this time he had a reason to, as shortly after we were home, he started leaking.

Many people have asked me if this is normal.  Like I'm an expert since we have been through three surgeries?  I don't know if it's normal, but our post craniotomy guide said 'Call your surgeon if: your incision is warm, red, swollen, or has blood or pus (yellow/green fluid) draining from it.  Since it was clear fluid, and at first it was a trickle, we weren't overly worried.  But after a few days, and as the trickle turned into more of a stream, it was growing increasingly frustrating for Stefan.  So, we sent a picture to our surgeon and, on Monday, we were given a choice to  either meet up with our surgeon in the ER on Monday or his office on Tuesday.  Since I was at work, and we wanted to avoid the ER, we took the Tuesday option. 

On Tuesday, we went in and Stefan got three stitches on the lowest part of his incision where the leakage was.  But, that night, it started again, just above the stitches.  So, on Thursday, we met our surgeon in the ER in the morning to get another inch covered above the previous ones.  Home for lunch, only to have the leak move a little further up his incision. (yes, like a leaky roof - we started joking about pulling out the duct tape).  We were back to the ER at 5:30 to have the whole incision done.  The end result was 30 something stitches over his 30 something staples (along with the side of his head feeling like a waterbed).  If this didn't work, the surgeon said we would have to go back to the operating room to open it up, reseal and do it again.  (argh - fingers crossed as that did not sound fun).  Stefan did not feel great and needed to stay laying down for quite a while after that.  Not sure if it was the extra pressure, the freezing drugs, the shock of all the extra stitches?). 

The whole process has slowed down recovery, but as of today, he is back to daily walks and doing his puttering around the house.  The stitches/staples removal has been pushed back as well as the surgeon would like to do this as opposed to having our family doctor do it.  And, as for 'if it's normal?', we were told our body is full of liquid and it will follow the path of least resistance, but we did need to stop it from coming out so the incision can heal.

We also got Stefan's pathology report back.  While I don't know everything it says (will find out more once we meet with the cancer agency again), I can say that it looks like the tumour has not changed from before (ie. it's still grade 2).  This is great news.  We are dealing with the same beast as 9 years ago, just with one less weapon in our arsenal (radiation).  

The kids are doing well.  They were definitely not themselves the first few days Stefan was in hospital, but once we were home and they could see Stefan doing ok, they were doing much better.

Being home recovering during a pandemic has reduced any FOMO (fear of missing out), but having to spend 5 hours in emergency on Thursday had Stefan and I cringing the whole time.  I hope everyone is staying safe and embracing home and family time.

Big thanks to all our support out there.  Special thanks again to my sister Trudi for helping us out last week, my sister-in-law Rebecca for taking care of Stefan's family and ensuring I was fed during hospital time.  We have been so lucky to receive meals and support and are feeling very loved.

If you get queasy with wounds/stitches pictures, you might want to stop scrolling now as I'll end this post with some pictures, least queasy to queasy.  (Stefan approved - I would not normally post pictures of wounds, but I think Stefan kind of wants to show off his war wounds).

Post surgery - looking pretty good.

Walking out of neurosurgery after only two days.  Brain surgery poster boy.

The leakage.

Incision before any stitches.

Today - the full incision with staples and stitches.