Just as I was getting ready to go into the 9pm Visit, Carey, Wendy's Sister called me to let me know that Wendy had just called her to talk to her. One of the Nurses had let Wendy borrow her phone and Wendy remembered her long distance number by memory! HA! I can't even remember some of my relatives' phone numbers by memory! So, that was pretty good news to me, because that shows that Wendy was remembering things, even better!
When I got to the room, Wendy looked MUCH better and all of her linens had been changed-out. The Weekend Marathon Nurse, LaShandra, took care of getting Wendy all-fixed-up. She looked MUCH more comfortable, too! Wendy has really warmed-up to LaShandra because she's so personable and she will come-in and talk to us for a while. She also paged the Doctor for me, because I had been unable to get some answers about the Stints and a few other things. About 15 minutes later, Dr. Fisher came-in to talk to us. (He is the one that has made pretty regular rounds and made it a point to talk to me each time.) I asked him about the stints and here is what I found-out...
Originally, I thought that a stint was very similar to an ACE bandage... you wrap the vessel in it, the vessel heals, and then you remove the stint. NOT SO. Dr. Fisher tells me that the stint is permanent and it actually will grow into the vessel wall and make it stronger. Since the stint is an artificial fixture in the vessel, Wendy will need to take Plavix and aspirin for the rest of her life. (Blood thinner / anticoagulant.) This keeps any clots from attempting to form at the insertion site. I asked the Doctor if she would have to have any "maintenance" on these stints. In other words, do you have to take them out, or put new ones in? He said, no, these are permanent structures and once they are in, they don't come-out. In another 18 months, Wendy will need to come-in for a follow-up Angiogram. (I'm not sure if she will need one EVERY 18 months. I didn't think to ask until I sat-down to type this.) I asked him what the long-term effects of this sort of operation would be. He said that Wendy's situation is very rare, especially being that it is THREE carotid arteries, instead of just one. Right now, the only research data on carotid stints goes back 5 or 6 years. With that data, they have not had any blood clots or issues, whatsoever. Wendy's case is definitely one for the books in that her arteries were torn, but there was no muscle, bone, or cartilage damage. My next question was...how will this restrict her activities? Does she have to limit herself from doing anything strenuous, etc? He quickly said that this would have NO restrictions on her lifestyle and how active she can be. I even gave him the example that Wendy gets-up at 5am almost every day, swims laps in the pool, then, gets Tyler ready for school, and she goes to work, and is going non-stop until 11:30 or midnight... every day. Again, he confidently said "No Restrictions". Lastly, (drum roll please) I had to ask him about her discharge date. I said "We are really trying to get her home for Thanksgiving, but we obviously don't want to rush it. Do you think she can make it home by Thanksgiving?" He said that if she gets her stint put-in early in the morning and everything goes perfect, she MIGHT be able to be discharged on Thanksgiving Day... MIGHT. So, as usual, I'm not getting my hopes up, but I am excited that the end of her stay is near! Although she will be fragile and sore for quite some time, at least she can sleep in her own bed and rest like a normal person. The other thing is that, being at home, she will be closer to everyone that has been helping her! Which means that she can get even more attention and hopefully recover faster!
I will be down there first thing in the morning and see what time they take her up for surgery. I will post those times to the blog, too, so, keep an eye out for it !
Good Night!
-Shawn
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