No news is good news?

Not sure who came up with the old adage 'no news is good news,' but it's not really true in this case. I haven't been home much this week to update. So, we'll get you all caught up now...

To sum it up...Dad's still stuck at the same spot. Eating ice chips with the NG tube. The stomach has not kicked in and decided to work yet and pump the bile and fluid to his intestine. The surgeon is confident this will happen and he keeps saying the stomach only knows how to do 1 thing - it will remember. But, while it's inflamed after surgery it doesn't always want to pump and may take some time. How long you ask??? Up to 2 weeks.

So, they did a contrast test today and verified that the surgery did work and the stomach is open to the intestine so now we just have to wait for his stomach to decide to do its job. It's been 4 days since surgery, so yes, it could be up to another 10 days before it kicks in. Until it kicks in....ice chips only and NG tube. UGH!!

Mom and Dad are definitely hoping for some good news at the hospital. Got any good news? Add it to the comment spot below. We'll live vicariously through all of you for awhile...I'll go first...the biggest news in our house this week is I purchased a Swiffer vacuum for Tyler (the 8-year old) who now says I'm the greatest Mom in the world and he is vacuuming my floors everyday. The good news is: I am released from vacuuming duty and apparently, Denny and I are raising a sucker!!

Stuck in neutral....

So, we were apparently jumping the gun a bit by expecting clear fluids. He hit the brakes yesterday. Apparently Dad loves the roller coaster, because each day that looks great and is a high, is followed by a stomach dropping day of downs. The down day was yesterday. Still stuck with the NG tube...stomach hasn't started 'pumping' yet...still only on ice chips.

When Denver wakes up in a bit, I'll check in and update again. If he's on schedule, it should be an up day, but again he isn't sticking with a normal pattern. Gosh he's stubborn! :)

Door # 3 is a Winner!!

I am very happy to report that Dad is doing great today!!! The surgery was a success. I spoke with him this afternoon and he sounded great. His days of toughness training in the Navy have paid off and he hasn't needed any pain meds. The NG tube is now bringing up nothing. Sue laughed and said no wonder the surgeon thought we were all insane when we kept saying the NG tube was bringing up less fluid last week. It was still bringing up tons compared to what was 'normal.' As we've said from the beginning, they'll have to rewrite normal after Dad.

So, huge leaps forward today, and hopefully more this week. Today he resumed the ice chip diet. Tomorrow the NG tube comes out. Dad begged the surgeon to be his first stop in the morning so he can get the tube out early. Tomorrow has the possibility of clear fluids. Who would have thought some apple juice and broth would be so darn exciting?!?

The surgeon also emphasized today that Dad needs to take longer walks and spend more time up in the chair. I figure he is used to that exercise routine - wake up from a nap...take a walk down the hall...take another nap...sit in the chair...take another nap...you get the picture! He should be a seasoned pro at this routine. He'll hopefully be released from the hospital no later than next Monday.

Thanks again for all the prayers and support. They are definitely working.

Not the best day...

Well, the prize behind door #2 was a dud. Kind of like when people used to win a goat on Let's Make a Deal. The second option given to Dad to correct the stricture was another go at the endoscopy. So, the surgeon tried that approach this afternoon and was not able to open the stricture that way. They brought Dad back to his room for a couple of hours. He had to trade the goat for what was behind operating room curtain #3 (anybody following my 70's game show humor?). The surgeon reopened his incision from the Whipple procedure and had to surgically fix the stricture.

This is where the 'what they actually did' gets foggy. No offense to my mom, but she wasn't real clear on giving me the details. I know how much you all live for these great medical novels that I've been writing, but today you're going to have to be satisfied with a bit simpler version. We know this...they disconnected something and reconnected it somewhere else on his stomach...the surgeon drew a picture and it showed stitches (we don't really know where they were or what was stitched together), but he stitched something that in the picture looks like tubing. So, instead of a descriptive analysis of his treatment that could win me an amateur's award in the medical field, I've had to fall back on being the kid that's relaying you the story similar to a game of telephone.

The good news is, and Mom was very clear on this, the new connection was wide open and looked good. The bad news? The NG tube got put back in for at least 48 hours. Feel free to insert your own Hankism using the 'f' word here, because you know he had some choice things to say about that tube going back in!!!! So, we wait again...back to not even ice chips. That Schlafly beer is going to taste even better when he finally gets to drink it!!!

The waiting game continues. Hopefully, the NG tube will come out in 2 days and he'll be released from the hospital in about another week. By then he will have crossed the 1-month residency mark at Parker Adventist. We're keeping our heads up and trying not to view today as 2 steps backward. If it is, hopefully tomorrow will have 3 going in the other direction. You all know Dad's determination, which is what will pull him through this last week in the hospital, because basically at this point...he's pissed!

The Waiting Game Continues...

First some good news! Celeste came home yesterday and is doing very well. Thank you for all of the prayers.

Dad's progress continues to be much slower. They did the endoscopy on Friday and found that the blockage at the point where the stomach attaches to the intestine is due to a stricture. Basically just swelling and some tissue, nothing serious, but it's still not functioning properly. During the procedure they removed the NG tube, which was the tube through his nose to his stomach that was pumping out the bile. They did not replace the tube. So, on the good side, the tube is finally gone. On the bad side, he's now dealing with nausea and has gotten sick a few times since then.

So, what now??? The first option provided by the surgeon, is apparently not going to happen. This option was that the stricture, which they expanded during the endoscopy, would stay open and it would start to drain. Since he's still getting sick, that didn't work. So, on Monday the surgeon will do the second option, which is to perform another endoscopy and be more aggressive in expanding the stricture (the last endoscopy was done by the GI doctor). If this doesn't work, they'll have to go in and surgically remove some of the tissue blocking the drainage. That would be option 3. Obviously we are all hoping that what's behind door #2 will be the winner.

Still nothing besides ice chips. Hopefully, Monday will bring better news. We'll keep you posted.

Kathy

Third Update on Dad (Henry Herbst)

Our first 2 updates made it sound like Dad would be in the hospital a maximum of 10 days. Here it is Day 14 Post-op and he's still in the hospital. While the man can be a freight train when he sets his mind to things, he also tends to want to set his own pace. So, I guess he's decided to not listen to the doctors after all. He's making progress, but it's slow.

The main problem at the moment is he is still producing too much bile from his stomach. He had a couple of tests yesterday that show an enlarged area at the top of his intestine where it comes from his stomach. This blockage won't let the goop leave his stomach, so they are having to pump it out. Basically, the train isn't leaving the station in the right direction. They will be doing an endoscopy this afternoon to see what the problem is. They think it just may be inflammation from surgery, but it could be something more serious like a kink.

All of this means he still has the tube through his nose, down his throat, and into his stomach. While he's tolerated it all pretty well, he's losing his good humor about that tube. (Fill in your own 'Hankism' here about what he's saying to the nurses). He is making other progress. He hasn't been on any pain meds since last Thursday...he is taking longer walks each day...and more and more tubes are being removed. But, at the moment, he is still only allowed ice chips to eat. He gets 1/2 cup of ice chips over a 24 hour period. When I think of the volume of food I've eaten over the last 2 weeks and compare it to his 2 cups of ice chips, I'm feeling kind of bad for the guy.

I will update this site again this weekend when we know more. In the mean time, he's hanging in there and still hanging out at Parker Adventist Hospital.

For those of you asking about my niece Celeste's surgery, her post is listed below.

Celeste...

For the past few weeks, my 9-year old niece Celeste has been struggling with her blood disorder. Her blood has been breaking down quickly and she has needed a few transfusions. The doctors were planning on taking out her spleen (which is the 'cure' for this disorder) in a few weeks when she was on break from school and after a few immunizations that are ideal to get while the spleen is still in. She got the immunizations, but they weren't able to wait any longer to take out the spleen. In the past few days her blood was breaking down too quickly. So, surgery was scheduled for this Thursday (yesterday).

There was some discussion that they would remove her gall bladder as well, since gall stones can be common with this disorder. But, they were not convinced she has any gall stones, although the ultrasound showed a little ‘stuff.’ The doctor believed that to be more fluid-like than stone-like. So, Thursday they did the surgery laprascopically and only removed her spleen.

During the procedure her spleen was VERY enlarged and difficult to remove. There was a scary moment during the procedure when an artery was nicked and she bled for about 10 minutes losing at least a ¼ of her blood. But, the surgeon was giving her blood during the procedure to compensate and there are no ill effects. She’ll be in the hospital until tomorrow, but in typical kid fashion they say she’s bouncing back already. She’ll be back home in Castle Rock by Sunday.

Thanks for all of the extra prayers for Celeste!