New Sunfish Thread

[DancingLight]

Roselover and I were both getting ready to post on Melissa's behalf at the same time...THANKS Melanie for writing the update...

I started a new topic since the other one is getting so big, and I was afraid that folks might miss that there was an update of sorts, as there haven't been many updates lately. Melanie, I hope that is okay!

Here's Melanie's post from the other thread:

UPDATE:

Hi everyone... just a very quick update for you all. Melissa did not go home today as planned. Instead, she is having a j-tube put in tomorrow (Tues) and so she has been transferred back to the hospital today for this surgery.

It is hard to face surgery and the pain following the placement of the tube (pretty big abdominal incision), but this is in many ways, a relief for Melissa who has been very concerned about how often her current tube becomes clogged. The new tube is placed differently and larger so less likely to get clogged. The care center decided that she must have it replaced before going home or she would be unable to get meds.

This won't solve the sepsis issues, however, it is something Melissa was hoping for and it has just come about very quickly and smoothly. Though she wants desperately to be home... this really is the easiest way and best time for this procedure to be done.

Please pray for her tomorrow during surgery (time unknown) and the couple of days of recovery before she really gets to go home.

And we may not hear anything for a couple of days... so no one panic... :-) Just keep our Sunfish in your prayers!

~Melanie

Addendum from me...

I know there haven't been many updates posted lately on Melissa. Mostly it is because so much is up in the air and she is really going day by day. There are no easy answers, only hard ones. Melanie summed up everything really well...

Inserting the new tube requires general anesthesia as well as a fairly decent incision...so she will definitely be uncomfortable for at least the next couple of days. She said the surgeon said it would be painful (I said, "My surgeon never told me it would hurt to get my GB surgery!") Laughing, she said, maybe her surgeon was just more upfront.

Oh, and Lois, he asked her if she still had her appendix and she said, 'yes'...and the surgeon said, 'well, while we're in there we might as well remove that too!'. Having it to do over again both of us would have gotten our appendixes removed as you did when you had your GB removed, but now she will have hers out so it is one less organ to get infected by the sepsis.

Given Melissa's condition, the surgery certainly won't be a breeze and it is risky, but it's a risk she wants to take b/c, as Melanie said, she cannot keep having to go without meds, particularly the midodrine which is working for her some right now.

I know that whenever one of us hears or speaks with Melissa's mom about how Melissa did with the surgery we will post...

Just thought I'd start a new thread and Melanie was feeling very brain-fogged while posting so told me to add stuff...so for those who wanted a big more info...hope this helps!

Oh, and don't panic???? Melanie?! You are talking to an entire board of worriers here!

Please continue to keep Melissa in your prayers and thoughts and also hope that her stay post-surgery is as short as possible because she

is sooooooooooooooo ready to be HOME!

Also, continued thanks to all of your for the funkiest and most fun gifts and cards you are sending. You are all quite creative. Loved the Bonsai tree with the little pond!

Emily

[corina]

melissa,

as the day has started here in europe for quite some time now, i am thinking about you and will do that allthrough the day. i hope you are asleep right now and can get as much rest as you can so that your body is prepared for surgery. as you know, you are a big inspriration to me (and to others i'm very sure) and i keep telling my family how courageous you are. the 4 of us will be thinking about you today. we will also be thinking of your family, they can do with an uplift as well, i'm sure.

hope everything will go smoothly melissa and you will be home and in your own bed soon.

love,

corina

thank you so much emily and melanie for letting us know

[Lukkychrm42]

I'm thinking of you and always sending lots of big hugs and love out your way. Best of luck with the surgery and recovery!!

XOXOXOXOX

Megan

[Ernie]

Hi Emily,

Thanks for posting the update.

Melissa,

I will be praying for you.

[Tammy]

Many prayers for a speedy recovery from your surgery and continued hope of improvement with the infections.

- Tammy

[MomtoGiuliana]

Thanks so much for keeping us so well updated, Melanie and Emily.

Melissa you are in my thoughts. I hope the surgery will help greatly.

Katherine

[P SUDIK]

Thanks,Melanie and Emily,for your updates.

Melissa,you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers,Love Pat

[Gracefulprincess]

Melissa,

I'll be keeping you in my prayers....may the surgery go smoothly and may you have a quick recovery! You are soo brave and such an inspiration to all of us.

God bless you!

[MightyMouse]

Melissa, I don't know why I think in strange ways, but when I think of the J-tube, for some reason, it made me think of the little bubbler line that goes into the fishbowl... that runs to the treasure chest and the little diver guy with the helmet on... here's to your bubbler feeding you the right way every day from here forward! --Nina

[Tessa]

Thanks for the update, Emily & Melanie

Melissa,

You are in my thoughts and prayers,

Love

Tessa

[Sophia3]

thanks for the update

thoughts and prayers for speedy healing for you and the medical team involved.

[morgan617]

Thanks for the updates sweeties

Sweet Melissa, love and prayers and hugs coming at you from everywhere.....angels watch over you at all times....morgan

[corina]

melissa,

i am off to bed now as it is half past 10 pm here. have been thinking of you all day. hope you are safe now,

love, corina

[DancingLight]

Just a little update for all the other fishies worrying about our Sunfish!

I just called her mom to get a quick update...we just spoke very briefly b/c her mom wanted to go be with Melissa.

Soooooooo.....the good news is that she made it through surgery well (so far). She didn't go in for prep until 2:30 this afternoon and didn't get out of recovery until about 7:00. So, her mom was really just getting to see her and get a sense of things.

Melissa is in a LOT of pain, which was to be expected. She's on morphine right now.

Her mom said that she had a really wonderful nurse...always a Godsend AND they weren't busy (another miracle) so Melissa was the nurse's only patient tonight! This is good...and may mean her mom can go home and get a little rest before coming back for rounds at 7 tomorrow morning.

Melissa can start getting her meds 24 hours post-surgery...which was better than they thought--which was 2-3 days without meds through the jtube.

They removed her appendix, placed the jtube and also found a piece of some diverticuli something or another which i didn't catch the name of. Not regular diverticuli...somethign that only 2 % of people ever get and only 2 % of those people have problems from it. It wasn't inflamed or anything, they removed it, but don't think that it is contributing to the sepsis. Bummer...that would have been a nice find if it was the answer. But, there are no easy answers anymore.

So, that's the latest scoop I have. I know Melissa will be totally out of it for a couple of days. And when she can talk...oh that is always so funny to hear her on morphine. Plus, she never remembers a thing I've told her or she's told me. Reminds me of those 'this is your brain on drugs' commercials with the eggs! Sorry, need a bit of humor after stressing about her getting through the surgery...

Later alligators!

Emily

[flop]

Thanks for the update Emily. I'm glad to hear that she has made it through the surgery ok. Was is a Meckel's diverticulum that they found and removed?

Lets hope that the next part of her recovery goes smoothly and that the pain settles rapidly so that she can get back to her own fishbowl asap.

Thinking of you Melissa,

Flop

[dizzygirl]

oh wow.. thanks for the updates ladies! god love ya!

melissa I hope that you start feeling better and recovery nicely.. and arent in s much pain very soon.. I pray that once they get your meds pumping back in you that you feel some much much needed relief...

prayers are wwith you sweetie!

love and hugs

dizz

[DancingLight]

Flop,

Maybe???? Her mom talks as fast as she does! It did start with an 'M'...that a rare thing that form that you mentioned?

Btw, I've never really formally welcomed you to the board I don't think! I see you've been on a lot in recent months...and I haven't been able to welcome folks as much! So, welcome to our little world!

Emily

[corina]

thanks so much for letting us know how melissa is doing em. i can't imagine how hard it is on her parents as well. hope they all are doing okay (one way or the other).

hope you are in less pain now melissa. at least the surgery is done! now you can rest.

love,

corina

[wareagle]

Thanks for the updates guys!

Melissa,

I hope that your recovery goes well and you're able to get some releif with your meds really soon.

You're in my thoughts and prayers...

[DancingLight]

Just a little update on MELISSA ON MORPHINE!

She's on mega-doses of morphine. She started telling me stuff and I said, yes, I talked to your mom last night. And she said, 'oh, you did? she didn't tell me you called.' I said, 'well, maybe she did and you just don't remember?' She said, 'that is quite possible'. I love how she can be so funny in the midst of such pain and suffering.

Anyways, she's really drugged. Last night despite heavy-duty doses of morphine she was in so much pain she only slept about 1/2 hour. And was like a 15 on the pain scale she said. Now she said she is a 5-6 with the bigtime doses of morphine. She hopes to sleep a bit more tonight than last night!

I was so glad that she called. I have been in the midst of a several day long ANS storm and just a couple of hours ago, I totally crashed and had almost fallen asleep (which never happens wihtout my sleep meds). I happened to wake up to pee, and as I was lying back down I saw the phone lighting up and saw that it was Melissa (my ringer was off)...I felt so grateful that I didn't miss her call.

And, flop...it WAS Meckel's Diverticulum! How do you know all that stuff? I'm sure you've said, but do you work in the medical field. She said it is usually found in males. I said, 'do you have something you need to tell me?' She was so drugged she had no idea I was teasing her. When she said they had found something else I was able to say 'was it Meckel's Diverticulum?' I felt so smart! hahahaha. She was like how did you know that?

It was several inches long...but didn't look as if it had been inflamed or infected. Also, her appendix was enlarged, so probably a good thing that came out along with the other stuff!

She hasn't gotten any meds yet...and can't until tomorrow now.

Also, it seems like now that she is back in the hospital, the doctors are back on her case...and the surgeon is hopefully going to call a meeting with all the doctors to consult more. I really hope something comes of this. Of course the surgeon said he had never seen a sepsis case like hers--which is the problem to begin with...no one has seen this! Grrrrrr.............

So, please send thoughts and prayers that the doctors will put their heads together and try to really solve more of the puzzle. And that Melissa's pain starts to settle down SOON.

I am sure she will not remember a word of the conversation she and I just had! But I will and I feel so happy to have heard her voice!

Later alligators!

Emily

[lalalisa]

Emily,

Thanks so much for the update! What a blessing that you noticed your phone lighting up!

Melissa,

I am praying for you. We are all missing you. I'm so glad to hear that your surgery went well.

Love,

Lisa

[DancingLight]

Lisa,

It was a HUGE blessing. A total 'God moment' as I would say! I feel so much better when I get to hear her voice...I know I'm so cheesy, but I'm used to hearing it almost every day!

Emily

[Rachel]

Thank you for the updates! I'm so glad you got to talk to Melissa, Em!!

Melissa,

I logged on this morning just to see how you are doing. I'm thinking of you and praying for you. I'll be praying that the pain lessens soon.

Lots of love,

Rachel

[PattiL]

Yea for Morphine!!! Hopefully that'll help Melissa's pain somewhat.

Melissa, even though I don't post as often as others you are in my thoughts and prayers daily. Please get better soon so you can be in the comfort of your own bed. I'm hoping that your pain subsides and the morphine kicks in more AND that you won't be needing it much longer.

Take care Melissa,

Patti

[MomtoGiuliana]

Emily--thanks so much for updating us.

Melissa I hope that pain settles down soon and you start seeing improvement from the meds. Sounds like the pain is improving. What a STRONG person you are. I hope you can get quality rest. I know this is usually very difficult in a hospital setting. You are in my thoughts daily.

Katherine