Surgical Success!

I'm sorry to be so late in updating the blog, but have good news to report. I'll start with last night in the ICU ... Kent was under the constant care of a nurse who had to wake him up on schedule to confirm that he was responsive and could answer questions correctly. If he showed any decline in function, the nurse was to alert the surgical team. Kent did well, but there was one "test" that almost triggered surgery.

Kent was taken into the surgical prep area around 6am, but the surgery did not actually begin until about 8:20am. It lasted a bit longer than anticipated - almost 4 hours - and he was moved to recovery a little after 1pm.

Because his surgery was "an emergency" the detailed consultation with Dr. Johnson couldn't happen today, but the information we have is that she felt everything went well and that she removed a blood clot approximately 3cm by 8cm long ... that converts to 1.2 inches by 3.1 inches. Needless to say, this was a LARGE blood clot and was creating TREMENDOUS pressure on Kent's brain.

This next part might make you a little squeamish, but I'll include it for those of you who are detail oriented. Dr. Johnson commented that this blood clot "had been there for a while" and the CT scan showed that Kent's brain has been displaced (not centered) by 1.2 inches. She said that there is a 10 - 15% chance there could be another bleed as his brain "bounces back" to fill the void left by removing such a large clot. He is being constantly monitored and the team will spring into action at the first sign of trouble.

Mary, Toni and Ray have been in to see him and Toni reported that it was a shock to see his shaved head. Although he is still "pharmaceutically impaired", the nurse woke him up and asked his name and the year - he answered both questions correctly. Toni asked him the name of his favorite little boy and he answered ... Memphis.