I’m sure everyone knows by now that Cindy’s surgery was successful. I don’t think we knew how important the surgery was today. The goal was to repair her hernia and see what state her abdominal cavity was. This is what the Dr. Tsai, her surgeon, told us:

Cindy’s stomach and colon had been pushed up into her thoracic cavity by the hiatal hernia in her diaphragm. It was pressing next to her right lung. It was also twisted and folded and was beginning to die in thoracic cavity.

The doctor was able to untwist her stomach, pull her stomach and colon down into the abdominal cavity and tack it in place. He repaired the hiatal hernia and closed it with a mesh.

• This is great but cautious news.
• She is still high risk.
• There is a 30% chance the hernia will split. One good cough would do it.
• She is still susceptible to pneumonia and sepsis.
• No one knows the shape/status of her lungs or heart. We do know her right lung was 40% compressed and she has an enlarged heart. Dr. Ardilles, Cindy’s pulmonologist, will keep a close eye on her. When she is strong enough, he will order x-rays and tests to measure these organs.

This was the report from the surgeon.  Cindy didn’t go to the recovery room but straight to the ICU.  She complained about being thirsty, hot, pain, etc.  Tubes were hooked up, she was given fluids and medicine, nurses were in and out of the room and an x-ray was ordered.  After a while Dr. Ardilles showed up.  He was stunned.  He held up her chest x-ray and showed that the right lung was at 95% capacity.

This day has been incredible.  The prayers, well wishes and good thoughts all helped the surgeons hands.  Thank you.

If you would like to read about Cindy’s journey to this point, you can find it at Cindy’s Status.

Last Wednesday, exactly one year to the day of the last post, Cindy spoke to a thoracic surgeon about repairing her hiatal hernia. Her pulmonologist found that her right lung is working at 40% capacity, down from 50% capacity last year. Her stomach has been pushed up into her thoracic cavity by the hernia and continues to press against her heart and right lung. Cindy is having a harder time breathing due her the compression of her right lung.

The surgeon said that Cindy is in critical shape now.  She is extremely high risk.  He says he does around 5 high risk surgeries a year and his patients have all gone home within a week.  Even the pulmonologist thinks it’s a good idea.  So Rita gave the OK after she finished conferring with family and friends.

Cindy is in great spirits. She is confident that the surgery will be successful.

The surgery is scheduled for Monday, August 3^rd, 2015 at 9:30 am Pacific.

Logically, I’m all for it.  This is what Cindy wants.  Her quality of life after the surgery will be the same or will improve.  Without the surgery, she will get worse and be miserable.

Emotionally, I would like her to have the surgery on a Monday in 2025.