Pat's Report - From Dec. 31 2007

Happy New Year all, Deb has come through her surgery alive and very well! Last night was rough and neither one of us got much sleep. Check in was at 5:45am and Deb needed to go have some tests to get ready for the big event. I was an emotional train wreck, but Deb approached the situation as the Mighty Finnish Warrior Woman she is with her matter of fact attitude. Deb's surgert started at 1:40pm, and ended about 4 hours later. The doctor came to tell us how things went. The surgery went very well and Deb was in satisfactory condition, which is the best classification you can have. He also said that Deb's valve was in pretty rough shape and it was a good thing she had the surgery. I went to dinner with my mother in law and sister in law until Deb was brought to the ICU. When I first saw Deb it was real hard thing to handle. She had tubes and machines hooked up everywhere. It was something you might see in the Bride of Frankenstine. The breathing tube down her throat was the hardest thing to see. I asked when the tube would be taken out, the nurse said when they were sure she would breath on her own. They woke her up slowly and she responded quicker than most patients do. The more Deb woke up the more she wanted the tube out but the nurse explained that the tube would come out only when everything was right, because they don't want to try to reinsert the tube if she cant breath on her own. The tube finally came out and I could talk to Deb. She told us she was fine and wanted a Diet Coke with lime. We could not give it to her because her stomach might not be ready for it, in wich case the soda would come right back up. Here are some more things Deb thought she would want after surgery that she did not get: New Years Eve bubbly, food, and gum. What she did get was crushed ice to suck on. She was happy to have that. Maybe tomrrow we can ring in the new year. sorry about spelling and gramatical errors, it's been a long day.