Surgery Report

As usual, things didn’t quite go as expected. A small incision to repair one hernia turned into a 6 or 7 inch incision to repair multiple hernias all along Samuel’s old midline incision. This is now the third time in the last 12 months that his abdomen has been cut open in the same place. The surgeon used a 7 x 15 cm piece of mesh to bridge the gaps in Samuel’s fascia. This polypropylene monofilament mesh material, called Atrium C-QUR Mesh, will provide the reinforcement needed to keep his insides where they belong. The mesh has a coating of bioabsorbable fish oil to promote healing. At my request, Dr. DiCarlo kindly saved us a scrap so that we could see what is now inside of Samuel. A drain was also placed in Samuel’s abdomen to keep fluid from collecting under the skin.

A bigger incision means more pain and a longer recovery time. Instead of coming home today as originally planned, Samuel will be staying in the hospital a little longer – hopefully only one more night. Pain management was a challenge this morning, but by this afternoon he was much more comfortable even though he was taken off the narcotic IV pain meds. He ate well this afternoon and was able to get up and walk around a few times.

This evening is a different story. He is very nauseous and not able to eat. Sleeping and throwing up have been his only activities since about 5:00 this evening.

I’m heading home now and leaving Tom to manage things here with Samuel. Hopefully, it will be a quiet night for both of them.