Joan Update #3 - Joan continues to make progress, but will probably still remain in the hospital for a day or two longer. The surgery she had was considered “major” as it involved her entire abdominal area be opened (from near her chest to below her belly button) so that the severed spleen could be removed and also all organs to be evaluated for damage. Yes, that means (intestine’s and stuff) were pulled out and looked over and then put back in. Of course, the three broken ribs just adds misery to company. Her sprits remain strong and is looking forward to getting home. One clarification on “breaking the rules” I mentioned earlier…. It was only because of the area she is in called PACU (post anesthesia care unit) and they usually don’t allow long visits. We both have been treated so wonderfully and everyone is so supportive of me being with her. For those who are interested in how this happened: Joan was attempting to get by 2 people sitting at the first two seats of a row of vacant seats when her flip flop must have tripped her up. In an attempt to brace her fall, she grabbed the stadium seat (bottom section that was flipped up) that immediately retracted down which resulted in her side hitting the back of the hard plastic seat. The force ended up breaking her ribs which then cut her spleen almost completely off. So, after watching the last inning of the game and walking a couple of blocks to the hotel, LUCKILY she read her body enough to know “something wasn’t right” and we knew we needed to seek medical attention. THANK GOD because had we not gotten the treatment we received and chose to “wait it out” she would have bled out. Smart Hotel Staff recognized the severity of our situation and stopped us from walking to the hospital and called an ambulance. By the time she got through the CT scans in the ER and was brought to the Shock Trauma Center, she had 1 liter of blood in her abdomen (which is 25% of her body’s blood). What’s amazing is the University of Md, Medical Center is the only integrated Trauma Hospital in the country. Go Figure!! We originally didn’t even know where we were taken, not to mention that it was the VERY BEST place we could have been brought to. Not only that, Dr. Scalea the Physician-in-Chief just so happened to be on duty performed the surgery. God certainly has looked out for us.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 23:29:32 +0000