This is KitKatz Daughter

Now that I'm home, had food, got to spend a little time with my kids, and now have a beer in my hands, I think I can finally sit and type out what happened today. I'm praying that all of this will make sense to everyone - I've been up for the last 38 hours straight with only an hour long nap this morning, so I'm past fried right now. I'm sure the rest of the family will help to fill in the blanks as they come out of the "semi-consciousness" we were all in when we left the hospital this evening.

So, today's timeline -

10 AM - Surgeons and doctors had a powwow about her condition

11 AM-ish - Surgeon came in to talk to KK and the family. They were given 2 choices - 1) wait and see and 2) surgery. Considering all that KK has been through since Friday AM and that she'd been stable all night long, everyone voted surgery. They called me (I was home manning the phones and watching the kids) and mom and I made plans to get to the hospital ASAP.

12 noon-ish - Mom and I arrived to find that they hadn't taken her to the OR yet but were expected anytime. We joined the family in her ICU room waiting for the OR team to arrive.

1 PM-ish - the team rushed in, scooped her up, and hurried her off to the OR and we went to the waiting room to wait the next 3 hours on pins and needles.

4 PM-ish - The surgeon came out to talk to us. She said that KK had come through the surgery just fine and that she was in recovery. She would have to be on a ventilator for a day or so until her BP regulated and she could breath on her own. Until then she would be sedated, but her prognosis was good.

5 PM - She was rolled back into ICU room and we were able to get a quick peek at her before we headed home.

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And now, here comes THE REST of the STORY!

As some point late last week, my sister's lower intestine kinked or twisted, creating that excruciating pain she had late Thursday night / early Friday morning. As time passed, that piece of intestine died off and then split, literally spilling shit into her abdomen. Of course, this is a serious concern in itself but her body had somehow "walled off" the toxins to the lower right quadrant of her belly, stopping it from wandering around and causing even more trouble. Of course, that spot is the spot where her appendix was SUPPOSED to be! (They're guessing that during one of her earlier abdomen surgeries as a kid they decided to pop it off and either they never mentioned it to my mom or she didn't remember it.) So, there is the "suspicious infection or inflammation" around that area that concerned everyone.

The doctor did warn us that though the surgery was a great success, she is far from out of the woods. Even in healthy patients that have this issue, they have a high chance of getting worse in the first 24 to 48 hours AFTER surgery before they start to show any signs of improvement. We were also warned that she has a VERY long road to go before she will be hiking Mt. Wilson again or running around LA with her IHD friends.

As it stands now, they are waiting until sometime late tomorrow to pull the ventilator (we hope!) and start bringing her around. They will continue the antibiotics and monitor her in ICU for quite a while until they're sure she's safe. Then I'm sure once she's good, they'll transfer to to a regular room and then home, as they've done before.

So, please please please - keep up the well wishes, light those candles, say those prayers. We're not quite out of the woods but we're beginning to see the light!

Anne
(KK's little sister)