Surgical Success! - - - 06/25/09

Apparently, I was too groggy when I sent the message last night because I received several questions by return mail.

In an attempt to clear it up: Robin had a large “sore” (about 5 x 3 inches) on her derriere. She has been in pain for about a week, exacerbated by the fact that she spends a large part of her day in a wheelchair. Her oncologist sent her to Robin’s favorite surgeon, Dr. Mason, who said it needed to be opened and cleaned out as soon as she was able. The issue was her Coumadin (a blood thinner taken for blood clots) levels, which were too high for surgery on Wednesday. Dr. Mason (optimistically) scheduled the surgery for 5:00 PM on Thursday, 06/25/09.

I saw Robin in the morning, and she looked well. I went to work for a few hours, got back to the hospital about 2PM. Through the day, Robin’s Coumadin levels got good enough that the doctor decided the surgery could be performed.

Robin was taken down to pre-op for surgery at 4:00 PM. For two and a half hours, I heard nothing. At about 6:30, John arrived and just a few minutes later, Dr. Mason came in to fill us in.

Apparently, the sore was not too complicated, having no “trails” or “fingers” leading to other locations. Dr. Mason cut the entire top off and removed the dead tissue. He saw another separate (but much smaller) place where something was starting, and he cleaned it, too. He told us that samples were sent to the lab for analysis. It is important to learn what it was and how to kill it. One concern for someone who has been in hospitals a lot is MRSA, a strain of staph that's resistant to antibiotics.

It sounds like Robin will be in the hospital a few more days. Before she will be released to go home, they need to get the lab results on the infection, Robin must be able to tolerate the pain without IV medication, and we need to be capable of the wound care Robin needs.

By the time I left to go home (a little after 10:00), Robin was coherent (well, as much as she ever is), and had eaten some solid food. She seemed to be doing well, but was sleepy, so I figured it was time to go.

Please continue to keep Robin in your thoughts and prayers.

I'll try to get something out tomorrow night.

Thank you,
Larry, Robin, and John