It’s All in Her Head

i can’t show you this part, but they gave six warm wipes and said use them all.

Five hour surgery.

They kicked me out of the room about 10 minutes ago. The sleeper doc is installing an IV into the front of her left wrist. This will directly go into an artery so that they can monitor her heart beat and blood pressure closer than they could with a cuff.

The anesthesiologist came out for more equipment saying he needs to switch arms. This seems to be a reaccuring problem for Jennifer when she gets poked for veins.

okay, they are done, and the driving has taken place

me: honey, anything you want to say for the updates?

her: oh my word.

I’m reading to her from Numbers 22, in the dull moments. I wonder what a talking donkey sounds too someone when they are as drugged as she is.

The wait begins

They took her away. Chelsea said she would update after every hour. So I shouldn’t have anything until about 9ish.

?’s to tfurmato@gmail.com or 616.200.7676

Surgery Timeline

8:22 AM The surgery begins. They said she’s doing well.

9:31 AM Surgery still in progress. She’s doing well. (Dr. Fabi doesn’t take a break throughout this whole surgery! I asked him. Chelsea said she’s worked with surgeons that go 9 hours on a patient without taking a break. Think about that next time you stare at a computer screen for an hour and need to stand up and give your body and eyes a stretch. )

10:13 AM I broke down and bought coffee, learning 2 things. First, this is the first coffee I’ve bought in a long time that Jennifer didn’t automatically see the credit purchase online. Second that, although typing is a bit slower, a coffee cup doubles as a face mask in an odd sort of way. (Earlier I had my mask off, and though I was at least 20 feet away, could clearly hear some lady griping about people in the d*** hospital that don’t have their masks on. Maybe I just have good hearing.)

10:42 AM Surgery still in progress. She is doing well. (Chelsea doesn’t give the most interesting updates. I think they should let someone like me do them. I at least would include some photos.

10:47 AM I finished the long cup of coffee I’ve ever drank. I wonder what the fumes taste like?

11:15 AM a nurse just came over and called me to a conference room.

So things are finished in the surgery, and now we have to wait a couple of hours before I see her. (In the commotion I threw away my coffee cup. I’m gonna miss that thing. Best $4 cup of coffee I ever had.)

Post-Surgery Timeline

11:18 AM Dr. Fabi came in. He said things went a lot better that he could have asked. He gave me A LOT of details. I could regurgitate them in time… But I did ask him if I’d be able to get an audio copy, and he said maybe his dictate notes.

Some notes: Dr. Fabi said they had monitors plugged in all over the place. (This is Tommy vernacular) They were monitoring every level of brain activity that was possible, probably even her textile sensors. The biggest concern he had was her hearing. He said was able to stay away from that nerve but noticed a fluctuation in it anyway. He mentioned some drooping eye, but I don’t know if he meant before or after. I guess we’ll see.

12:03 PM She arrived in patient recovery.

12:20 PM Sleeping still from sedation meds. Doing well.

1:50 PM Able to move all extremities. Very sleepy still. (haha, if they only knew) BP was high, got some mediation for that… medication helps (they must have got some fast acting stuff) Doing well.

2:20 PM They brought me to see her. Taking her to recovery room.

---

3:35 PM she struggled with blood pressure. They gave her a few things. The third one worked. She waved in 9 for pain that we finally got under control with some Tylenol. She’s pretty much out of it. If any one can to see her tonight this is pretty much all they’d see.

5:26 PM sometimes hearing her snore is such a beautiful sound. Web page note: I added a force refresh for the page from my end. Enough people wondered why I haven’t posted anything, but they just hadn’t refreshed their page. Hopefully, they won’t have to now.

5:35 PM She’s sleeping and the blood pressure is down to a better number. It was bouncing around mid 160’s to mid 170’s for an hour or two, but it’s down to 135-145 now.

5:49 PM Blood pressure is back up a little. I wonder if it’s pain related.

7:06 PM We had a rough hour. Pain was over running her, blood pressure was all around, and then she puked. I swear that orange juice was orange when we put it in. It was right after she took this one pain Killer pill, that would cause nausea if she had it on an empty stomach. Hence, the orange green juice.

By the time Oliva arrived things were quieted down. I thought maybe seeing her mom like this might be hard for her. But, now she’s pretty mild, not wild anymore. Olivia brought some flowers from the girls at the bakery, a sandwich for me, cookies for the nursing staff, and laughs for mom. And her phone for herself.

7:53 PM A new nurse is coming on. Ashley will hopefully help change Jennifer’s laying position as that is driving her crazy at the moment.

8:40 PM Life is so fragile. We take for granted when we are strong and healthy. But, take the moments when we are struggling with any part of typical functions and it’s hard to overlook how frail we are. I am thankful that we have a God that understands our weakness and can perform amazing things to make us strong, in Him.

Please continue to pray to the God who created all things, any by whom all things continue to exist.

10:15 PM Ashley checked in found a much improved patient. Relatively speaking. She was much more aware, answered faster and clearer, and performed basic tasks with more ease. I really want to say something funny now, but I should be nicer and kinder in all that I do.

March 12, 2022

3:59 AM We both got some much needed sleep. Throughout the night we were both in and out. They checked on her hourly with the same routine.

RN: Who’s that guy sitting over there?
Jennifer: My husband.
RN: What are you doing here?
Jennifer: brain tumor.
RN: What year is it?
Jennifer: 22
RN: Squeeze, reach those hands up to mine. Harder
RN: Pull me closer, push me away
RN: Wiggle the toes. Push on the brakes, pull me toward you.
RN: I’m going to shine a light in your eyes. Okay.
RN: How many fingers am I holding up.
Jennifer: 2

She has been dealing with double vision since the surgery. Once or twice she only seen one. Her right eye is doing a little wandering. She can move it on command, but it goes wherever it wants when it’s not under direction.

She hasn’t been able to hold anything down either. And no matter what fluids go in, the same green substance comes out. The last thing they slipped her were some ice chips, and they haven’t made the round trip yet.
They’ve been keeping her medicated, but she’s been getting better at handling pain. During the day her pain level would often get to 8, 9, 10, for good lengths of time, but Ashley has stayed on top of things and hasn’t let it get above 5, with less meds. There was one tablet she took called Norco, or something like that, and that seemed to cause a lot of issues; dizziness, nausea.

4:19 AM They are wheeling her down for CT scan. She’ll be there for about half an hour. It’s a scheduled trip.

4:55 AM She back, untangled and resting quietly again.

7:58 AM Andy took over an hour ago. Removed her artery line and cleaned up some tubing. She looks forward to the Tylenol drops every 4 hours, and is usually asking after about the third hour when its time. She’s still having trouble holding stuff down, but it seems improved. At her request I have some Jello waiting for a trial run.

The checks that they perform hourly, like that one mentioned this morning at 3:59, are trying to catch any deterioration or symptoms of something going wrong in the healing process. They said there could be swelling, leaking, and other post-surgery things going on. Also, her left eye is not moving exactly as they would like, but the doctor, who was called, said that type of thing can be expected, so it will be watched closely.

9:13 AM Teagan, the Dr. Fabi’s assistant checked in, said though it looks like a bus ran over her, she’s not doing too bad. Bethany, the speech pathologist is now making sure she can still annunciate important words like “ravioli” and “lasagna”. Teagan did remove the wrap around her head.

Olivia brought a new sandwich, because she thinks the one I didn’t finish last night should not be eaten. It’s a perfectly good half, so I am not going to abandon it so quickly. She also brought some laughs. Last night I had to go find her lost in the hallways.

9:30 AM Jennifer just took a hold of her hair at the crown, and pulled it so she could move her head….!!! Makes me wonder how successful the brain surgery actually was.

11:03 AM Answering questions asked.

Are both eyes having trouble? The right eye still has some wandering characteristics, it doesn’t move and doesn’t stop precisely. The RN’s however seemed more concerned about the left eye, saying it didn’t center properly. I didn’t notice that. After Teagan came in, she didn’t make that big of deal about it. Dr. Fabi hardly mentioned it when he came in at around 10:30 AM. I guess this means that her eyes are something to keep an “eye” on?

Did she keep the Jello down? She has been keeping the Jello down, but hasn’t eaten a whole lot of it yet. Maybe only 35 grams of a 99 gram SnackPack? The second spoon I gave her was slightly larger than the first, and she struggled with swallowing that. Nevertheless, she has little by little taken small spoonings, keeping all of them down since starting.

Is her blood pressure staying stable now? Here is a timeline history of readings.

How is her hearing now? When Dr. Fabi was here this morning, her hearing was his greater focus. He repeated what he told me post-surgery briefing, that though it wasn’t apparent why the level fluctuated during the procedure, even though he wasn’t really touching it. I do hope I can get an audio recording of his description because he says it so clearly. To me, it’s like brain surgery.

She does indicate trouble hearing on the left side, but when they test her, the only time I’ve seen a difference was with soft cricket fingers close to each side.

How is the pain doing? She is still getting Tylenol every four hours, and still looking forward to it. That being said, she is dealing with it better. Either that, or it’s being more manageable. I personally think things were just getting carried away with yesterday. Like, the pain levels were being overlooked well beyond what she thought was comfortable. I’m not trying to blame anyone for this, but this is what it seems to me. It could be that the pain level itself has tapered off, and has itself become more tolerable. But, I know in my own experience, if I don’t catch pain I’m having before it reaches certain levels, much more pain comes from it, through stress, panic, and weariness. This is also what the night shift Ashley attested to, and through attitude and action kept right on top of.

12:05 PM Andy is checking with Physical Therapy if they can make it up to the room and help her stand. We’ve got her bed into a chair like position because her biggest complaint isn’t head pain, but body aches from being in the same position for so long.

Double vision is still an issue, even though Dr. Fabi didn’t seem too concerned about it.

1:45 PM Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy showed up together to get her into a chair. The excitement is about to happen. (I would help, but they won’t let me. So I’ll man the keyboard.)

Items are being cleared from the bed.
Pillows are removed from under legs.
and butts.
She’s laughing and coughing.
Julie (PT) Denise (OC)
Question.
Left arm… yes that one. Lift.
Bed Lowered.
Sitting up… on side of bed… Olivia is recording her first steps.
Gown straps being reattached.
(this is taking about a minute or two for each step)
Butt being covered.
More questions.
(if you want to see her stitches DM me. I’ll send you the image as long as you don’t repost it.)
Blood pressure being checked.
Safety strap being outfitted.
Patience.
up… and…
She’s standing!
and sitting. (a little more Jello intake would have been a great help)
Chair repositioned. (by moi)
Up again, over, and in.
Pillows tucked in anew.

2:43 PM Jennifer is sitting in the chair still struggling with nausea, and wanting to return to the bed. But, I told you we about to see some excitement, and we do not disappoint.

This is a recap:

As they tucked in the pillows behind our recoveree in her temporary chair, Olivia and I stood by the window watching the choreography of the therapists, Olivia recording. Then she says, “Dad.” (that would be Olivia.) and slowly sinks to the floor, in about 5 or six different positions of slouch before she ended up lights out at my feet. I honestly did try to prop her up, but failed in slow motion.
Suddenly there were about 6 different colored scrubs in 10 different staff members crowded into our small room. One ran to get a wheel chair, another attempted to keep Olivia “eyes open”, others considered rushing her down to emergency. The therapist continued to work with Jennifer moving her chair, so someone else could move the bed, so someone else could maneuver in a wheel chair that had to be retrieved from a different department, because why do you need one in a department that everyone arrives and leaves in the prone position.

Olivia, was hoisted into the wheel chair, attempting to grin and giggle, Jennifer sat out of it in the corner chair, and all talked about what the heck just happened. ( for the record, Olivia was telling when she arrived today that she had an appointment with a doctor to have this “condition”, which she gets honestly from both her mom and dad, checked out; at Luke’s request.)

3:15 PM Eventually, everything got quiet. Olivia drove home on her own, (I should follow up with a phone call.) Jennifer is murky with morphine, zofran, and decadron, waiting to go back into her bed. (Olivia’s map marker shows her at home, so that must have worked.)

4:40 PM She’s comfortable back in bed laying totally on her side. Tylenol is starting to do it’s work. Next stop, hopefully 9:30 PM

7:00 PM She’s doing relatively good. Enough that she could complain about the pillows. Which is weird if you know anything about the masses of dead blobs she keeps on her half of the bed. She asked for some Claritin, more or less, and should be getting 5 mg… someday? It’s shift change, and you know how it is when employees are going through changes. I don’t know who will replace Andy. Hopefully not the lady that asked me to put a mask on when I went out to ask if Jennifer could take some children’s Benadryl she has in her purse.

But, Jennifer is moving around more. I didn’t even notice, but she turned herself around to lay on her back from the side position. You would think I would have seen her do it, since I was standing right there holding the despicable pillows, while she talked to me, and mysteriously ended up in a position different than the one she started in.

The judge has declared the 99g of Jello has been completely consumed.

10:00 PM She got her Tylenol and will try to sleep. Mostly she’s complaining about just getting comfortable and her body aching.

10:14 PM Complaints of a pain in her right leg below the knee. Fearing a blood clot, she paged the nurse, Jamie, who said she didn’t see signs of that, and will put ice on it.

12:27 AM She’s still improving. Says she wants to sleep, but feels like she’s been sleeping too much. If you figure that one out, you’re a step ahead of us.

4:41 AM Probably not many people are waking up at this time to check on Jennifer. But, if you are, here is your “time to make the donuts” report. She’s asleep. Actually, from 10:14 PM to now, other than the time I woke up at 12:27 AM, I slept nicely. (in case you’re wondering about me. And I needed it. Just mentally it helps.)

When I woke up last, she was fitful, torn between wanting to sleep, but feeling like she’s slept too much. I had to convince her that no, she hadn’t really slept all that much. Maybe that gave her permission to sleep finally. Except, she just stirred, and asked what time it was, commenting on the effects of the Claritin in getting rid of her sniffles. The best thing about that is that I’m convinced her brains weren’t still seeping. I told her to go back to sleep, and she didn’t fight me.

5:50 AM One of her bags got low and the machine started beeping. I turned it off before she hardly even budged. She said she’s feeling good, and is asking Jamie if there is a chance to get her hair washed today. She is even hearing better. And, she asked for some pudding. Sounding hopeful.

6:15 AM Instead of pudding I ran to get her yogurt.

7:15 AM Shift change, and they overlook patient’s needs. I know, shift changes are necessary. She’s getting restless. Her sinuses have started dripping again, and she skipped a Tylenol or two during the night. It all seems to be catching up with her.

8:16 AM Terry is the day RN today, with nursing student Riley. They gave her some morning meds and when they left she turned onto her side to rest, and so that I can put some Physical Touch on her back.

8:45 AM Teagan, Dr. Fabi’s assistant visited. She said there is not much they are doing for her here, and would be fine sending her home, contingent on how she does with Physical Therapy later today. If they think she can handle the move, and would be safe at home, then home it is.

9:07 AM They are going to attempt another sitting. Terry snapped her in the head with an eye patch. They are removing the catheter. I’m not going to predict any excitement this time.

Riley is wearing baseball pants, so I’m assuming she’s working today because her game was cancelled due to inclement weather.

She got into the chair much easier today.

The speech pathologist is going to see if she eat something chewable, like a saltine cracker. Getting tired and lightheaded.

10:36 AM The therapy duo came back and got her up to a walker. They test drove the toilet with a dry run. She delivered with flying colors. Now testing the sink access, which goes good. Back into the chair.

10:55 AM Returned from the therapy room with raving reviews from the duo who vouched to give good recommendations to the gatekeeper. They had her walk up and down some stairs, and step in and out of a bathtub.

12:03 PM We are being read discharge papers.

I went down to the SkyCafe, (which is in the basement) to get some probiotic drink and ran into Dr. Fabi in the hall. He had an emergency surgery to do today. He said he just seen her and she looks good, and she should be good to go tomorrow.

When I got back to the room, Riley said we were ready to go. I mentioned what Dr. Fabi said, and she said she would go check. About an hour later she came back and said she has discharge papers.

Naomi, Jennifer’s sister, arrived just in time to carry bags down. We are just waiting for the walker.

12:53 PM We’re just sitting here, all packed up, waiting for the walker.

1:34 PM I ran bags downstairs, started the car and left the ladies up to wait in case the walker came. Then I had to debate the whole, should I leave the car running at the door while I run up to help, especially to carry the walker. When who should I see, but a guy carrying medical equipment with new tags on them. I convinced him it was mine, the walker anyway, and although he was hard hard pressed to believed me, he saved a trip for the walker, and I threw it in the van.

2:30 PM We are home! Praise God! Thank you for all your prayers.

March 14

8:27 AM First morning home report. Given by my awesome sister-in-law Naomi, who is bunking on the main floor with her while I take the penthouse studio suite.

1:14 PM We gave her a shower and washed her hair. She is taking a little warm broth. She’s still very weak, but her visual focus is improving and metal awareness.

7:23 PM Vincent and Hesedel (and Meiko) brought over some ratatouille soup for Naomi and me, and Jennifer was brave enough to try some broth. It was too spicy for her, but kudos to her for trying. Then Oliva brought over some donuts and gave mom a sliver of the blueberry filled one. She ate it, which I think is her first solid food since the surgery, but didn’t have any more.

Did you know who the US President was that called himself a donut? Apparently, this is very often still spoken of in Germany by older citizens of the country, as reported by Vincent, who lived there for a couple of years. Our beloved president was trying to say he was a citizen of Berlin, probably to make them feel like we weren’t much better then they were, whatever. But he called himself a Berliner, which in Germany, is a jelly filled donut. Much like the one that Jennifer ate a sliver of tonight.

If you knew it was John F. Kennedy, you either qualify as old, or are a history geek.

March 15

6:06 PM Jennifer is looking and doing a lot better. She’s still not in her room sewing, at the table working with clay, or even sitting in a chair knitting anything, but she is laughing good, and uncontrollably. When I got home from my first day back to work, I walked into a scene of two grown women laughing hysterically as they flopped on the couch barely able to keep their eyes open to look at a video on an iPad.

March 16

6:00 AM

TEXT MESSAGE CONVERSATION

Jennifer: I keep dreaming of making pancakes with butter and blueberry… don’t know if I could eat much… But it sounds good…

Me: I could whip up some when I come down?

Jennifer: 😁

Me: Okay

Me: Give me a minute

6:20 AM Jennifer: Can I smell your coffee?

You might call this all weird. But, I call it progress.

5:27 PM I brought home some date bread that Vincent made at the Bakery, and Jennifer had a small bite. It’s good to see her expanding her menu to include more solid foods. Daring.

March 17

4:37 PM Earlier this morning she was complaining about head paid. The doctor recommended putting her back on a two a day pill for the inflammation, which she had just decreased to one a day. When I got home tonight she seemed to be doing better. We gave her a shower and she’s talking about getting into her sewing room tomorrow.

I’ll end this running update now that things are down to daily reports. If anyone has questions or whats to check on her, feel free to reach out to her email jkfurmato@gmail.com, or call/text her at (616) 439-0832.

---

Instructions to Take Home

Eye Patch – Alternate it on each eye hour to hour.

My Chart – Keep an eye on upcoming appointments.

---

Person of Interest

These are few of the people we’ve met today

Joe G. – The guy who got us started. He walked us to the main room once we checked in. He’s from South Haven but lives in Kalamazoo now. He’s been with the hospital for 20 years and his nephew started working here lately, doing the same job that Joe did when he started here.

Tanya – Our first nurse, who didn’t stick around too long, but was very friendly and told us all about her foster home for animals. She’s got chickens, goats, cows, a steer, donkeys, dogs, cats, and probably a couple others that I can’t remember. She was wounded on her arm by the goat with an attitude, which she is only watching for someone. Its a small wound.

Laurie – A cute three year old that didn’t know how to keep still in the waiting room, and was the first person to speak to me face to face, (no mask). She was waiting for her own surgery, and didn’t have a care in the world. She was getting metal taken out of her upper leg after corrective surgery when she was pretty much new born.

Katelynn -Our recovery nurse who has been patient and super helpful as Jennifer has tried to make it though pain and stuff. She hasn’t talked too much about herself, yet.

Ashley – Our night nurse has a 15 year old son that communicates with her through the mind… more or less. She’s pretty good with figuring out Jennifer’s needs, and we’re creeping forward to a night of unknowns.

---

Here is the surgeon info.

https://www.bronsonhealth.com/doctors/alain-fabi/