We Have a Date. We Have a Surgeon. We Have…Questions.
On Friday, Dave spent the entire day at Northwestern undergoing several different tests designed to give Dr. Lee, the reconstructive urologic surgeon, a clearer picture of what’s happening inside his urinary tract. The hope was that, armed with all of that information, we’d have a much better understanding of what surgery would look like when we met with Dr. Lee on Monday.
We were also hoping for a quiet weekend. Naturally, Dave’s kidneys had other plans.Here We Go Again
Saturday afternoon, Dave started running a fever.
If you’ve been following along, you know this is how all of his kidney infections have started. By Sunday, it was clear that this was not something we could wait out at home, so we headed back to the emergency room.
Dave was admitted to Evanston Hospital with a 102-degree fever, uncontrollable shaking, and a heart rate approaching 150 beats per minute. The Evanston team consulted with his Northwestern team, who wanted him transferred downtown immediately.
So Dave took a little 1:00AM jaunt down Lake Shore Drive in an ambulance with, according to him, poor suspension.
He is now back at Northwestern, being treated — per the usual — for another kidney infection with broad-spectrum IV antibiotics. Our hope is that he’ll be able to get home later this week, giving us a few days of downtime before we all have to report back to Northwestern next Monday for surgery.So…What Exactly Is Happening Next Monday?
Today's 3:15 p.m. conversation with Dr. Lee was still on the calendar, even with Dave back in the hospital. He called at 4:30 p.m., so we are now officially 2-for-2 on Dr. Lee being approximately 90 minutes late (it’s fine, it’s fine, everything is fine).
We thought this conversation would finally give us some answers about what next Monday will look like — especially now that Friday’s testing was complete.
It did not.
What we basically know is what we already knew: Dr. Lee will make several small incisions in Dave’s abdomen, insert a small scope and instruments, and use a robot to maneuver them throughout the surgical area.
You may be asking:
“Okay, then what?”
He doesn’t know.
“Okay, but what will his recovery look like?”
He doesn’t know.
“How long will the surgery take?”
He doesn’t know.
“What will pain management look like?”
He doesn’t know.
“Will you need to take tissue from the inside of his cheek or from his bowel?”
He doesn’t know.
“Is the suture you found on Friday contributing to the blockage?”
He doesn’t know.
As a Capricorn eldest daughter, this is my least favorite number of things to not know.
That phone call felt equal parts “this could have been an email” and “trying to get information out of your teenager during the car ride home from school.”
All (not really) jokes aside, there are some things we do know.
At baseline, this is a complicated surgery.
It is made even more complicated by the mesh in Dave’s abdominal wall, the scar tissue left behind from his January surgery, and the specific type of blockage he has — including a suture that apparently decided it was going to stick around indefinitely instead of dissolving like it was supposed to eight months ago.
The type of reconstruction Dave needs means Dr. Lee will have to determine the best course of action once he is actually inside.
The best-case scenario is that he can reconstruct the conduit and repair the ureter without complication, allowing the PCN tube currently draining Dave’s left kidney to be removed during surgery.
The worst-case scenario is one we are not even putting into the universe.
We need to be at Northwestern next Monday at 5:30 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. surgery.
We also know that Dave has sustained permanent damage to his left kidney. The goal now is to preserve as much function as possible and get his urinary system working the way it needs to.
For now, Dave is receiving IV antibiotics and being monitored for this latest infection. If everything goes according to plan, he’ll be released later this week and we’ll try to squeeze in a few quiet days at home before heading back downtown for surgery.
One More Way to Help
We’ve also put together a page through GiveInKind where friends and family can contribute towards restaurant and grocery gift cards for Dave, Cheri, and the family to use as needed.
Dave has been out of full-time work since November of last year. After getting the all-clear from his oncologist in February, he has tried his hardest to work two days a week, but the chronic infections, hospitalizations, and complications have made even that incredibly difficult.
The gift cards are a small but incredibly practical way to take one thing off their plate — while putting food on it.
If you’d like to help with groceries or meals, you can find the GiveInKind page here. And if you have any questions about how to give, you can message Erica directly.
For now, we’re focused on getting Dave through this infection, getting him home, and getting everyone back to Northwestern next Monday. We still don't know exactly what Dr. Lee will find when he gets in there. Clearly, he doesn’t either.
We don't know exactly what the surgery will look like.
We don't know exactly what recovery will look like.
But we do know when it starts. Monday. 7:30AM.
Sincerely,
Erica
P.S. For the record, as frustrating as the unknown is, we do have total faith in Dr. Lee’s ability as a surgeon to bring us the best outcome possible for Dave. He is one of a handful of surgeons in the country trained and talented enough to make this happen. For that, we are thankful. And to be fair, people wanted to have a beer with George H Bush rather than Al Gore, and look where that got us.
P.P.S. Dr. Lee, (if) you need a communications consultant, call me.
