Panic TV

7 am Wednesday morning Fantu is ready to roll into surgery. We are left to sit and wait while our daughter is completely in the hands of the Doctors, nurses and Anesthesiologist to care for her and keep her safe, a job that is usually ours. We go to the surgical waiting room to watch "The Screen". Fantu is patient #1462, her progress is displayed on the screen along with all the other patients scheduled for that day. Her estimated time is 1 hour. A green bar that decreases with each minute tracks the time. #1462 In surgery 54 minutes remaining. Alan and Abate have gone to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. I sit nervously with a coffee in hand watching the screen. Alan and Abate return. #1462 in surgery 40 minutes remaining. I update facebook. #1462 in surgery 4 minutes remaining. #1462 in surgery 19 minutes remaining. HOLD IT! they just added 15 minutes. Deep breath.... okay simple explanation, just taking a bit longer, nothing serious...right? Try to relax, things are fine. #1462 in surgery 9 minutes remaining. Ok not long now. #1462 in surgery 4 minutes remaining. #1462 in surgery 19 minutes remaining. I try to remain calm, by all outward appearances I tried to reflect that. Abate was there beside me after all. Inside I was in full panic mode. What is going on with my daughter. Alan disappears ( I know he had to sneak out for a smoke ) the stress is getting to him too. #1462 in surgery 11 minutes remaining. The the receptionist calls out "Hennessy, The Doctor is finishing up now, I'll take you to the conference room and he'll be with you shortly." We waited maybe 15-20 minutes for Dr. Battle when he came in with a smile. She was doing well and was waking up. She had been thrashing around as she woke but was doing better.

We knew from the MRI that her lateral meniscus was a half moon shape instead of a crescent moon shape. The cartilage covered most of the joint and had been subject to 13 years of wear and tear. The actual tear that had looked so bad on the MRI wasn't as serious but that led to the surgery taking longer as they had a much larger piece of intact cartilage to remove. He trimmed away the excess and she now has a near normal lateral meniscus. The only bad news is that shes a 80% chance of having this in her right knee too. She has said it hurts some. If the pain doesn't become as bad as the left we will hold off until summer vacation to get it checked out and have the surgery if required.

After about another 40 minutes we were taken back to her and she was nearly ready to be released. We signed a few papers and we were on our way home before lunch. She slept off and on most of the day. At times shouting out in her sleep about hurting or just wanting me there. The pain pills keep coming every four hours and things were going well until earlier this evening (Thursday) when swelling had set in and one pain pill wasn’t enough, My poor girl was in tears and getting angry at our inability to make it stop. A second pain pill was soon taken and after about an hour she was calmed down and coping with the discomfort.

And that is where we are now. Alarm clock set for the next dose at 10 pm, then 2 am, 6 am etc.. The bandages and electric ice pack come off tomorrow and she can bathe, and hopefully start to bend and flex her knee. Her recovery will be 4-6 weeks. In the meantime no running, no jumping. How do you keep a 13 year old girl still?
I know the hospital had good intentions when they installed the TV's showing the patients surgical progress, but when the extra time gets added without an explanation they just cause worry and panic. So from now on I think they will be known as the Panic TV's.