karenulijohn

8:45 PM:  It has been a long day, and Dawn and I are now resting at the hotel for the rest of the night.  Harvey was moved into the ICU around 4:00 PM by which time we had left the hospital to find a good place to eat dinner.  We walked across Capitol Park to K Street and found Ella, a very popular restaurant.  We arrived at about 4:30 PM and they do not start serving dinner until 5:30 PM.  However, they have a very well attended Happy Hour.  Dawn introduced me to Poke which is a raw yellowtail tuna in a spicy ginger sauce, served with tarot wonton crisps.  We also ordered lamb meatballs and a small caesar salad.  It was such a lovely afternoon that we ate outdoors.  A delicious meal.  After dinner, we returned to the hospital and found Harvey in the fourth floor ICU.  The room is “Huge” and Harvey, ever the comedian, asked if there was a bathroom, sauna or a hot tub.  We thought maybe he was a little over medicated, but he then went on to say, the room was so big, “there should be some other amenities.”  He has about 10 tubes sprouting from his poor body and he is uncomfortable to say the least.  But he is surprisingly alert and mobile.  He moves around in the bed pretty well, but he is receiving strong pain maintenance.  We stayed for about an hour and half, and were able to observe the nurses as they checked his wounds.  He is pretty beat up, but the incisions don’t appear to be as big as I had anticipated.  We will return to the hospital tomorrow morning to visit before Dawn heads back home to San Mateo.  I will continue to update you on Harvey’s condition.  Thank you all for your comments, prayers and well wishes.  We have felt your love throughout this whole ordeal, and we are so very grateful.

2:05 PM:  I just visited with Harvey in the Recovery Room.  He is still groggy, but coherent, and very glad to see me.  They would only allow us go to in one at a time, so Dawn is with him now.  He was very happy to see me and told me that he did not think he could go through this again.  He is in some pain despite the epidural, probably a level 3-5.  When the nurse said that she would give him a little bit of extra pain medication, he said his level was really 7-8.  They are trying to get him moved into ICU and they do have a bed, but nursing staff is at a premium.  It will probably be another hour or so before they move him.

12:57 PM:  Harvey is out of surgery and in the Recovery Room, awake and talking!  Dr. Graves and Dr. Becker came to see us in the waiting room and moved us to a small conference room where Dr. Graves told us that Harvey did very well.  They had hoped to perform the excision through the incision in his chest, but the tumor was still fairly large and he had to go higher than anticipated.  This required a second incision on his right side between the ribs.  There they were able to remove the affected portion of the esophagus and all of the surrounding lymph nodes, and reattached the esophagus and stomach.  Pathology will take approximately seven days, so don’t stop praying.  He has a lot of tubes including chest tube, bladder catheter, nasogastric tube, a drain and the epidural catheter.  He will undoubtedly be very uncomfortable until all of these tubes can be removed, but that will be when it will be.  He will be in Recovery for another hour or so.  We are going to take a break and go to the cafeteria for an appetite killer before we return to see him.

12:00 PM:  We are still waiting and the color code is still showing “In Procedure.”  We are assuming that the 8:30 AM start was delayed.  More news to come as soon as we have something to share.

9:30 AM:  Harvey was wheeled into the operating room at approximately 8:30 AM.  We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 AM and were directed to Patient Registration.  We had to smile because over the past two days, we have had numerous “Pre-Registration” phone calls asking, essentially, the same questions that he was asked here at the hospital.  But, he did get a bracelet, a lovely deep blue one.  We were directed to a waiting room on the third floor, and he was immediately whisked away to the pre-op area.  Dawn arrived about 5 minutes later and we sat and waited to be called in after he was prepped and on the gurney.  We sat with him, trying to keep things light, but when it came time for him to be wheeled to the theatre, Dawn and I both noted that he looked frightened.  I am sure I triggered it, because I started to cry.  We asked God’s blessing, waved him off, and walked over to Starbucks.  At registration, I was given a card with an ID number and color coded instructions.  These coincide with what looks like an “Arrivals” board at the airport.  It identifies the patient by number and is color coded to let you know at what stage the patient is in the process.  Right now, Harvey is “In Procedure.”

While we waited in pre-op, Harvey’s nurse was named Karen.  I quipped that he would be able to remember that since he dated two Karens before he got to me.  He was then visited by Dr. Jim Becker, Dr. Graves’ assistant.  He was very cute and personable and, hopefully, an excellent up and coming surgeon.  Next came Dr. Kandra, the anesthesiologist.  It was her responsibility to let Harvey know what she was going to do and how she was going to do it.  Then she needed to tell him all of the risks of anesthesia and surgery.  Finally, she asked him if he knew what they were going to be doing to him today.  Of course, Harvey, always ready with a dry remark, said that he hoped they knew, but he thought they were going to “rip out” part of his esophagus and then sew him back together.  That put a smile on Dr. Kandra’s face, and she seemed to lighten up a little after that.  Dr. Graves made an appearance, telling Harvey that he was going to do very well, and then looked at Dawn and me and said that we need to make sure Harvey breathes very deeply and coughs regularly to keep his lungs clear.  According to him, Harvey is to keep a positive attitude throughout this whole process, including recovery, no matter what.  Finally, his OR nurse came in and made the final preparations to move him to the OR.

I will update this post when Harvey is out of surgery and we have spoken to Dr. Graves around 11:30 AM.