Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Surgery Day for Diego

O'Dark-Thirty. That's the military term for very early in the morning. That's what time it was when we headed back to the hospital. Once in the room we gave Diego an antibacterial bath and put on his cute little hospital gown.
8:45 AM: We were escorted from his room down to Main Surgery. There we met with his nurse Bridgette and the anesthesiologist. They asked us to write 'YES' on his right arm and both feet to acknowledge the surgical locations. He was then given an oral liquid they called "goofey juice". A sedative to calm him before going into surgery. At 9:15 was the big hand off. Mom handed him over to Bridgette. We both kissed him and watched as she carried him off to surgery. That was a tough moment for us. Tougher than we both expected.

10 AM: Update from surgery - Diego is fully sedated and 10 minutes into his foot surgery. Each foot should take 1 1/2 hrs. Hand surgery has not yet started. They will give us another update in 2 hrs.

12 PM: Surgery to the right leg is complete. Diego's surgeon is please with how it came out. He is now starting on the left leg. Surgery to the hand will begin in the next 30 minutes.

12:47 PM: The left leg is complete. Diego's surgeon ,Dr. Birch, was able to get both feet in a correct position for walking. For now Diego will remain in bent-leg casts for 4 weeks followed by straight-leg casts for another 4 weeks. The hand surgery is about to begin.

3:18 PM: We are happy to say that Diego is finally out of surgery. All went very well and he is resting comfortably. We are hoping he will recover quickly so he can start using those new feet and hand :) For now he will remain in the hospital so check back regularly to see how he is doing. We want to thank everyone for their prayers and well wishes.

Per i familiari e amici in Italia.

Diego e’ entrato in sala operatoria questa mattina alle 9:20 ora locale and e’ uscito verso le 14:00. Circa 4.5 ore minuto piu’ minuto meno.

Durante questo periodo di tempo l’assistente chirurgico ci ha tenuto informati dalla sala operatoria sullo stato delle procedure effettuate dalle due equipe’ di medici che hanno operato Diego. Il Dottor John Birch ha iniziato l’intervento al piede destro e poi si e’ spostato sul sinistro. Nel fratttempo il Dottore delle mani (non ricordo il nome in questo momento) ha effettuato l’operazione al polso destro.

Il povero Diego e’ un po’ frastornato al momento. Come potete immaginare l’anestesia generale e’ tutt’ora in effetto. La capo infermiera ci ha avvisati che nel giro di 3-4 ore l’effetto diminuira’ e il dolore potra’ causare sconforto. A quel punto inizieranno a igniettare medicinali antidolorifici via endovenosa e sedativi se necessario.

Diego ha due bei gessi color blu che coprono gambe e piedi, un modello bianco alta moda al braccio destro con tanto di cuscinetto rosa per tenere il braccio alzato e diminuire la possibilita' di gonfiori…scherzi a parte … il poverino ha tutte le estremita’ ingessate con l’eccezione della mano sinistra dove pero’ hanno fissato l’ago per l’immissione dei medicinali via endovenosa.

Inoltre al momento ha la mascherina per l’ossigeno per aiutare con la respirazione e il tubicino per il cateterino; qualche linea di febbre e battito cardiaco un po’ piu’ rapido del normale sono i sintomi che i medici avevano anticipato.

Ci dicono che probabilmente potremo portarlo a casa entro il fine settimana. Tornate a visitare il sito di Diego nei prossimi giorni per aggiornamenti e nuove foto. Nel frattempo vi salutiamo e ringraziamo tutti di gran cuore per i messaggi di conforto e preghiere.

3 comments:

Fam.Gutierrez said...

El senor es justo en sus caminos, bondadoso en sus acciones. El senor esta cerca de los que lo invocan.

WE ARE SO HAPPY THAT EVERYTHING CAME OUT GREAT.AND EVEN THOUGH WE ARE FAR AWAY JUST KNOW THAT WE ARE THERE WITH YALL.WE LOVE YALL AND WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YALL.BEST WISHES.

Anonymous said...

We are so happy to see Diego out of surgery. Diego is a beautiful child blessed with a loving family. And thank God for his surgeons and their staff working diligently to help Diego walk again. We continue to give thanks and offer support to his family. Sandy Landis

Tracey S. said...

I don't know if you remember me but I talked to you at the convention in Texas, My name is Tracey (I'm 20, w/ AMC). I had book marked your Blog a while ago and came across it today and saw Diego Had Surgery. I'm glad to see everything is going great!! I hope his recovery is quick and he can start using those new feet!

-Tracey
traceyschalk@gmail.com