So lucky and thankful once again!

Greetings to all you friends and family!

First, my deepest love and thanks to my dear husband Pete for once again sticking by my side, for taking such good care of me, for letting me squeeze his hand so very tightly as I was in agonizing pain in the wee hours of Wed. night/am. As you know from Pete's posting Thursday night, I am back in the U Hospital after having had emergency surgery to unkink/unwind my colon/large intestine, which also involved removing/cutting out 17 inches of dead (necrotic) intestinal tissue! FYI, the large intestine is about 5 feet long, so I have plenty left!! According to my excellent surgeons, (Drs. John Langell and David Larsen), I was extremely lucky -- they were able to handle my twisted bowels just in the nick of time, i.e., before my colon/intestine ruptured, which would have made me septic, and having a compromised immune system . . . well, that would have been really really bad!!

In any event, despite the short-lived but extreme pain and agony of a couple of days ago, and despite having to be hospitalized, I am truly fortunate in having had life-saving surgery once again! I now fully understand why the core of the body is called the core - lots of muscles in there that are sore! And, I now have a lovely scar virtually the entire vertical length of my abdomen! The new incision starts a couple of inches below the bottom of my "heart scar," and travels for 7 or 8 inches. At the moment, the incision is actually partially still open - it is sewn shut in the center but remains open a few inches on top and bottom (the facia is sewed shut but the subcutaneous fat and skin layers are open). They did this to help ensure that I would have no infection between the fat and skin, as the abdominal area had a lot of "murky fluid" in it when they opened me up. Over the next few days, the docs will slowly close the wound by attaching steri-strips to seal the incision.

I was not allowed much fluid (other than IV fluids) until today (a bit of water/ice chips yesterday) and was not allowed to eat until today, when I began a liquid diet of applesauce, soup, juice, water. So far, so good! Now I await for some of the illustrious bowel activity (sound familiar Barb and Tom?!).

It is a bit lonely here, but thankfully Pete brought the boys to visit this morning! Of course they had fun playing with the bed's buttons and having a snack of juice and crackers. I feel terribly sad that my dear Pete has to deal with a sick wife once again, but he is strong, we are strong, and we'll make it through! And, once again, the irony of all of this is that my new heart is functioning very well. One of the Transplant Cardiologist's said to me today, "Well, your heart passed a huge stress test with flying colors!" Ain't that the truth.

Alas, I do not know much yet in terms of the recovery process, except that I will not be able to lift for a while, I will have to be off work for some period of time again, and we will need all your friendship, love, and support over the coming weeks! Thanks to all of you who have already called or sent messages - we appreciate it.

Thanks for being there for us/with us in the ongoing drama called life!
Lots of love and peace,
Emily

p.s. If you are so inclined, you can reach me on my cell, or by calling the U Hosp. at 801.585.8652 (direct line to my room 630).