Out of surgery

She did great!  Dr. Dunn came out to update me after it was over, while she was in the recovery room, and said that everything went great, and that she cut 33% of the nerves, which she said was an ideal amount.  After that I was able to go back and be with Suchitra.  Here's a post-surgery picture:

Super zonked.  She hasn't seemed very distressed or in much pain, and the nurses have been doing a great job all day of staying ahead of the pain.  She has a continuous IV drip of pain meds.  We came up to our room in the Rehab Unit around maybe 2 pm and met a lot more nurses.  She has to lie flat, switching between her back and her side, until Saturday, I think.  After that she will lie on her stomach on the prone cart, which can be wheeled outside of the room.

She has the IV and a Foley catheter in, plus some other monitors, of which she is tolerating quite well.  She wants to sit up and she has talked all day about being hungry, but she was only allowed to eat ice chips a little earlier this evening and she just had one saltine cracker.  She can also drink some water.  They plan to dole out the liquids and foods a very little at a time, so that she doesn't throw up.  Earlier we watched Guys and Dolls and she was singing along as best she could.  The Disney Channel has kept her occupied the rest of the time.  I am worried that tomorrow or the next day she's going to get pretty antsy and fussy.  I'm really proud of how well she has done so far, but I know the Valium is helping!

She has to wear these styrofoam tube sort of things that go from her thighs down to her ankles, called knee immobilizers:

Apparently these will stay on for a long time, the point being to keep her aligned, help her back heal, and stretch out her muscles.  I saw the incision in her back when the nurses were checking it and it's pretty big.

I stayed with her the whole time until about 6:15 pm when I went to get dinner at the cafeteria.  I really did not want to leave her, but I missed lunch so I was getting super hungry.  The food options are very limited, especially non-meat, and I'm hoping that after a few more days when she starts to get busy with therapies, I will have enough time to take a cab to a grocery store and get some stuff I can actually eat.  However, there is only minimal room for refrigerated or dry storage.  I just got a tour of the Ronald McDonald Family Room, which is a large, homey kitchen/dining/living room that patients' families can use.  It looks like a great space.

I don't anticipate getting a lot of sleep tonight, as the nurses keep coming in and out every half hour or so to check her vitals and monitor medication.  The anesthesiologist stopped by and said she is doing great.  She's only dozed off a little bit, mostly watching TV.  Keep your fingers crossed that in the next couple days she stays calm and keeps healing as well as she has done today!

Oh, I also figured out how to ratchet down the comments setting so you no longer have to register or have a profile.  That should make it easier.  Thanks so much for all the messages and positive energy, it is making a big difference and helping a whole lot.