After returning home from the surgery and post-game show I posted this update…
Julie’s 3rd surgery went as planned with the expected result. Before surgery, her right diaphragm was down to her 5th or 6th rib whereas the left diaphragm was down to the 8th rib. After surgery, her right diaphragm was down to the 10th rib. The doctor left a drainage tube to prevent fluid from building up in the new void that he created. He expects her lung to fill the new space within a couple days when he will be able to remove the tube.
Before surgery, Julie had periods of energy and rest. While she was active, she was pulling
vigorously at her feeding tube (it’s like she KNEW that it was how she got fed and was trying to tell us that she was hungry). I was able to keep her away from the tube by letting her hold my finger.
She also had a problem with the new CPAP mask. It was slightly out of position. The nurse
improved it quite a bit, but Julie was annoyed each time we made an adjustment. Despite the problems with the mask, she was enthusiastically blowing bubbles and was maxing her blood oxygen levels. Her breathing before surgery was slow, steady and deep. It demonstrated the need for the surgery. She CAN breathe well with an empty stomach, but when she’s full she needs a lot of help. The surgery should move all those organs out of the way of the lungs, so she can breathe no matter what.
After surgery, she was completely zonked out, but still responding to light, sound, touch and other stimuli. It will take some hours before she is allowed to wake up (she now has a REALLY big owie on her right side) and then some more before she is eating again. She will be evaluated constantly to determine when she is ready to shed her old reliable friend – the ventilator. While we were there, the staff reduced settings on the ventilator so things were going in the right direction, but she didn’t appear to be breathing on her own yet.
We saw the before and after X-rays and they were quite dramatic. Pray that she will fully recover and won’t need to stay on the breathing machines.
Andy and Sarah Horn
Julie now has a scar under the right arm to match the one under her left arm.
The X-rays revealed the staples in her breast bone from the first surgery, the staple in her chest from the second surgery and the results of the third surgery. The dramatic change in the diaphragm location guarantees more room for her right lung so it can completely inflate and carry the load currently performed by the left lung. This should also allow the lung to complete any remaining development rapidly.