We're Home!

Kristine made it home safe & sound! Busy day preparing to come home, so she's pretty much passed out now sleeping. Expect she'll need a few days to rest up from the hospital, so we're still asking to hold off on visits and phone calls until she's ready to get back into the social network :)

She has a follow up with her doctor this Thursday, so we should get a full report at that time. In the mean time, she continues to do well, just gets really drained after any significant movement. Good news is she is finally resting comfortably at home and it healing very well.

We want to say thank you again to everyone that has volunteered to help with meals, transportation and assistance. Most of all, thank you all for your prayers and support as that is the main reason Kristine is progressing so well and so quickly!

-- Greg

Not Home Yet :(

The doctor didn't come in today, so it looks like Sunday is the next window for Kristine to get home. She did so well today. Her appetite is back and she was up walking around the halls several times. She got a great nap in the afternoon and is tucked in and ready for a decent night's sleep tonight. I'll be checking around 10:00am tomorrow to see if she's ready to some home. I know Kristine is really pushing for it :)

Day Three - Doing Great!

Kristine is really doing well! As I am sitting with her this morning, she has already been moved out of ICU, had breakfast, been up walking the halls, had all her IV's removed and is anxious to go home. The doctor making rounds said she is doing so well that she may possibly be able to go home later today or tomorrow. Kristine is all about this as she has not really been able to rest as the nurses are checking her every couple of hours. She has asked everyone to be patient with her as she's not up to visitors or phone calls yet because she is still quit tired. So we're keeping our fingers crossed that her main doctor comes by today and releases her so she can get home and rest up.

-- Greg

Making Progress!

Kristine has had a pretty good day today. She was sitting up eating breakfast when I got there this morning. She stayed up for a couple of hours, but started to fade just before lunch. She was getting a headache again, but after she slept for a couple of hours she felt better.

The doctor stopped in to check her this AM and said everything is looking really good. They approved her to move out of ICU tonight, but need to find her another room before that can happen. They also said they can shut the heat off in her room at 3:00pm today (they have been maintaining a constant 80 degrees to help with the circulation). Kristine was really happy about that! They were also planning on getting her walking late today - so we'll see how that went when I go back down tonight.

-- Greg

Out of Bed (for a bit)!

When I got back to the hospital tonight, Kristine was sitting in a chair watching TV (OK, she was dozing off a little too). With some assistance she got out of bed and wobbled to a chair at 6:00pm and was sitting upright for a couple of hours! She is still doing really well and seems stronger each time I see her. The nurses washed her up a bit tonight and she got back in bed around 8:30. She said she is pretty tired and was ready to turn in for the night. She's off her oxygen as of this afternoon and her pain is tolerable now too.

Back tomorrow AM to see how her night went.

I'm off to bed too - need sleep!

-- GL

Hanging In There

Our patient is doing pretty well today. As the doctor told her this morning, the next two days are the worst. The main issue today has been getting the pain meds at the right level. The docs don't want her blood pressure too low and the pain meds have a tendency to lower her BP. Conversely, they don't want her uncomfortable, so they keep tweaking the dosages. Around noon it seems they found the right balance. Kristine was eating a bit of jello today and taking in lots of liquids, mostly water and apple juice. The plan is to get her moving around a bit this afternoon, although she was not in a hurry to rush things as she is pretty sore around her stomach. The ICU doesn't allow visitors from 2:00pm to after 4:00pm, so I plan on going back later tonight to check on her. I'll keep you all posted on her progress.

-- Greg

The Day Is Complete!

We got Kristine to her room in ICU around 9:30pm and she is doing incredibly well. She is awake, but often dozes off for a few minutes at a time. She's cracking jokes and is eager to get home. She'll be in ICU for likely 48 hours as they need to monitor the TRAM flap hourly to ensure good circulation throughout the newly located tissue. The nurses already told he she won't get much sleep tonight as they will be in and out on a regular basis.

All-in-all Kristine came through this day with flying colors. I continue to be amazed by her determination, courage and positive attitude through this entire journey - she is truly my inspiration!!!

I'm off to get some sleep and will be visiting her tomorrow AM after I drop off Annierae at school.

Once again, thanks to all who are praying for her - it's really working!

-- Greg

Phase Three Comlete!

Kristine's doctor just came out to talk to me letting me know everything went extremely well! The team is just closing her up then she will head to the recovey room for a couple of hours. They are going to keep her in ICU for a day or two just for the more intensive monitoring in that area. I'll post more later after I talk to her tonight.

Greg

Phase Two Complete!

Figures, as soon as I sent the last update, the OR called.

That's OK, it was good news. The second phase, Free Tram Flap placement, was completed successfully! Kristine is doing great and the medical team is holding up very well.

So now we enter the final phase - reshaping and wrap-up. Still estimate about 3.5 hours of surgery left, then another couple of hours in the recovery room.

Will let you all know how the last part progresses.

Thanks,

-- Greg

Just Checking In

No update since 1:00pm. Had a nice visit with Pastor Paul from our church around 4:00pm this afternoon. Will post an update later tonight when I have more to share.

--GL

Progress Update

Just spoke to the OR nurse. Everything is progressing as planned and Kristine is doing great! Still have another 6 to 8 hours to go, but we're tracking well.

More updates as I get them.

-- Greg

Phase One Complete!

Kristine's surgical oncologist just came out to report the first phase of the operation, the mastectomy, was successfully completed. She said everything went very well with no indications of anything abnormal. She indicated Kristine is doing well, but will remain in the OR for another 8 to 10 hours as the next two phases of the operation are carried out.

So, 1 phase down (8:45 am to 10:23 am), 2 to go!

-- Greg

The Day Has Started

We got Kristine to the hospital at 6:30am and get her all squared away. She is in good spirits and anxious to get this over with. Had an issue getting her IV started, so after 3 pokes, they decided to install it after they put her under - which she was more than happy to hear them say :)

This will be a marathon session today, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 12 hours in surgery. It's basically divided into 3 parts; a mastectomy of her left breast, microsurgery to reroute veins to get blood flow for the Free TRAM Flap surgery then the actual reconstruction. The good news is that Kristine's oncologist agreed to let the micro surgeons begin work at the same time as she's performing the mastectomy, which we hope will mean less time in surgery. They expect her to be in recovery for 1.5 to 2 hours after the procedures.

There will be a lot of waiting today and likely several hours between updates. I'll keep the blog posts updated in near real-time and send out twitter updates as well.

Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers - it is greatly appreciated!

-- Greg

The Finish Line is in Sight!

Kristine will begin the final leg of her journey this Wednesday as she undergoes her reconstruction surgery. This will be a long surgery, likely 10 to 12 hours.

I will keep this blog updated and place real-time updates on twitter and facebook (my twitter account is http://twitter.com/sharkjet if you want to follow along).

We continue to thank you all for your prayers and best wishes as Kristine prepares to finish this long journey and move on with the next phase of her life.

We're almost there!

-- Greg