It's Elizabeth again. I have some post-surgery facts from my mom and dad.
Nicole is still in recovery, but is doing well. She had an epidural and a catheter right after surgery. Those are both out now. The epidural broke off, so they just took it out. She is now hooked up to a pump and is taking Demerol for pain.
She still isn't allowed to eat anything other than ice chips. They are checking her stomach through a tube in her nose that goes down to her stomach. They fill her stomach with fluid and then flush it out. This contraption may come out this afternoon or tomorrow. She remains hooked up to an IV for fluids.
Nicole was up walking yesterday and earlier today. The dressing over her incision is off, and she has 18 staples.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Surgery
This is Elizabeth, writing on behalf of Nicole.
Nicole's surgery was scheduled for 9:00 this morning. They got a bit of a late start; she went into surgery a little after 10:00. She was out of surgery and into recovery at 1:15.
The surgery went well. They were able to remove the tumor, and they will send it into pathology to make sure everything is ok.
Nicole was expecting to be groggy the rest of the day, but I'm sure she will update with more details soon (or give me more details so I can update for her).
Nicole's surgery was scheduled for 9:00 this morning. They got a bit of a late start; she went into surgery a little after 10:00. She was out of surgery and into recovery at 1:15.
The surgery went well. They were able to remove the tumor, and they will send it into pathology to make sure everything is ok.
Nicole was expecting to be groggy the rest of the day, but I'm sure she will update with more details soon (or give me more details so I can update for her).
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Referral
Apparently I wrote up the experience of trying to get a referral to Dr. Wiersema on my notebook, not on my blog.
As you know, my endoscopic ultrasound was scheduled for September 6. I called on Thursday, Sept 1 to find out from my insurance if there was a referral from Dr. Yahanda to Dr. Wiersema. There was not one.
On Monday, Aug 29, when we left Dr. Yahanda's office with the referral to Dr. Wiersema, I asked Dr. Y's staff if they would call the insurance to do the referral to Dr. W. They said they would take care of that. So after calling my insurance, I called Dr. Y's office again and talked to someone and she assured me she would take care of calling the insurance.
On Friday, I called my insurance again...still no referral. I called Dr. Y's office again and had to leave a message for a nurse. I told her that it was very important that she call me back because I needed the referral called in that day. Since it was a holiday weekend, that would be the only day to take care of it because insurance would not be available to take the referral on Monday. I hung up, realizing that no one had taken care of anything yet and no one had returned a call from Dr. Y's office yet, and I called my primary care physician. He had his front desk person call my insurance and take care of the referral. She called me back within 15 minutes and the referral was taken care of.
As you know, my endoscopic ultrasound was scheduled for September 6. I called on Thursday, Sept 1 to find out from my insurance if there was a referral from Dr. Yahanda to Dr. Wiersema. There was not one.
On Monday, Aug 29, when we left Dr. Yahanda's office with the referral to Dr. Wiersema, I asked Dr. Y's staff if they would call the insurance to do the referral to Dr. W. They said they would take care of that. So after calling my insurance, I called Dr. Y's office again and talked to someone and she assured me she would take care of calling the insurance.
On Friday, I called my insurance again...still no referral. I called Dr. Y's office again and had to leave a message for a nurse. I told her that it was very important that she call me back because I needed the referral called in that day. Since it was a holiday weekend, that would be the only day to take care of it because insurance would not be available to take the referral on Monday. I hung up, realizing that no one had taken care of anything yet and no one had returned a call from Dr. Y's office yet, and I called my primary care physician. He had his front desk person call my insurance and take care of the referral. She called me back within 15 minutes and the referral was taken care of.
Pre-Cert
This blog post is more for my own information for when I want to write a letter to Dr. Yahanda's office when this is all over.
I called my insurance today to make sure the pre-cert had been done for my surgery. I posted a few weeks ago about the trouble I had getting the referral for Dr. Yahanda then for Dr. Wiersema, I think. If I didn't, when I go back and read, if I don't find it, I will also post that.
Well, once again, they had no record of a pre-cert for any surgery scheduled for me. I double checked with my insurance that it has to be the doctor performing the surgery to call for the pre-cert. They confirmed that I was correct. So I called Dr. Yahanda's office and asked to make sure they were going to call for the pre-cert. I was told that they are working on this week's insurance calls right now and have not gotten to next week's schedule. I asked when she thought they might get to it. She said possibly not until the day before the surgery.
I told her I was uncomfortable with that because of my experience with other office staff I have had in the past couple of weeks when trying to get the referral. She interrupted me a couple of times and said maybe I needed to talk to the person that took care of me before. I told her no one took care of me because nothing ever got done. I said that was all over and done with and my concern now is getting this surgery pre-certified.
I told her my surgery is in six days and if this does not get done, I will not show up for the surgery because I will not pay out of pocket for something that should be paid by insurance.
She said she didn't even have my surgery schedule papers there and she would go over and ask another scheduler she works with about it. She came back on the phone and said she had the information and she would call the insurance and see what she needed to do and she would call me back.
She also told me the reason things didn't get done before was because they did not have our correct insurance information. She said the employer was entered wrong. I didn't say anything but thought to myself...we handed you the card, you scanned it into your computer and you double checked information verbally. If you don't have it right, someone gathering the information is a little incompetent. Then there is the question...if that was the problem, why didn't someone call to get the correct information instead of just doing nothing?
I did go over today and have my pre-op testing done. That went smoothly. I called yesterday and asked if I could come today so I wouldn't have to take off work and amazingly they had a cancellation and I got in. I had a blood test, completed health history and registration and had a chest x-ray. They did not have to do an EKG because I just had one when I was in the ER last month.
Lynn called me back from Dr. Yahanda's office within the hour and said the authorization was done. I will call insurance in a little while and make sure it is done.
I called my insurance today to make sure the pre-cert had been done for my surgery. I posted a few weeks ago about the trouble I had getting the referral for Dr. Yahanda then for Dr. Wiersema, I think. If I didn't, when I go back and read, if I don't find it, I will also post that.
Well, once again, they had no record of a pre-cert for any surgery scheduled for me. I double checked with my insurance that it has to be the doctor performing the surgery to call for the pre-cert. They confirmed that I was correct. So I called Dr. Yahanda's office and asked to make sure they were going to call for the pre-cert. I was told that they are working on this week's insurance calls right now and have not gotten to next week's schedule. I asked when she thought they might get to it. She said possibly not until the day before the surgery.
I told her I was uncomfortable with that because of my experience with other office staff I have had in the past couple of weeks when trying to get the referral. She interrupted me a couple of times and said maybe I needed to talk to the person that took care of me before. I told her no one took care of me because nothing ever got done. I said that was all over and done with and my concern now is getting this surgery pre-certified.
I told her my surgery is in six days and if this does not get done, I will not show up for the surgery because I will not pay out of pocket for something that should be paid by insurance.
She said she didn't even have my surgery schedule papers there and she would go over and ask another scheduler she works with about it. She came back on the phone and said she had the information and she would call the insurance and see what she needed to do and she would call me back.
She also told me the reason things didn't get done before was because they did not have our correct insurance information. She said the employer was entered wrong. I didn't say anything but thought to myself...we handed you the card, you scanned it into your computer and you double checked information verbally. If you don't have it right, someone gathering the information is a little incompetent. Then there is the question...if that was the problem, why didn't someone call to get the correct information instead of just doing nothing?
I did go over today and have my pre-op testing done. That went smoothly. I called yesterday and asked if I could come today so I wouldn't have to take off work and amazingly they had a cancellation and I got in. I had a blood test, completed health history and registration and had a chest x-ray. They did not have to do an EKG because I just had one when I was in the ER last month.
Lynn called me back from Dr. Yahanda's office within the hour and said the authorization was done. I will call insurance in a little while and make sure it is done.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Scheduled
The surgery will be at 9am on Tuesday September 20. I was surprised it was so quick! I was equally surprised they called me first thing this morning!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Making a Plan
I had another appointment with Dr. Yahanda today. He said there were two possible outcomes of the needle biopsy. One is a gastric-blah-blah-blah tumor and that one is more likely to be malignant.
The other possibility is a liomyoma (no idea if that is spelled right) and he started talking about smooth muscle. I didn't hear much after the liomyo...I know two people who have had a cancer called liomyosarcoma (again...spelling?) One of them was told that she would not live long, but has been cancer free for about 3 years, I think, after she had surgery to have all the cancer removed. The other one was my cousin's daughter who did not win her battle with the disease.
So as not to interrupt, I waited until he was finished talking and I said "Are you saying this is a liomyosarcoma?" He said "NO...it is a liomyoma" They are very rarely malignant. He said that is what my tumor is and it is definitely not malignant...not cancer...not liomyosarcoma!!!
So what we will do is this...
1. The cyst on my pancreas is no big deal. We will just leave it alone and have it checked in about a year.
2. Since I am having no symptoms, he is going to leave the gallbladder alone also. He said until I have symptoms, there is no reason to mess with it.
3. The tumor will definitely have to come out because it could bleed again.
They are supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule that surgery. It will involve taking about a third of my stomach out and reconnecting the rest of it to the duodenum. If it is in a different place than where Dr. Wiersema (the dr that did the endoscopic ultrasound) described then that plan might change, but he is not thinking I will lose my whole stomach...thank goodness.
I will have to have some pre-op tests, as usual, and I think they will schedule those when they call me tomorrow also. I will be in the hospital 5-7 days. I will not be able to drive for at least two weeks then it depends on whether I am taking pain killers or not. I could be off work up to six weeks, but he thinks with my job and my boss letting me come home if I don't feel good, I should be able to be back in three to four weeks.
The other possibility is a liomyoma (no idea if that is spelled right) and he started talking about smooth muscle. I didn't hear much after the liomyo...I know two people who have had a cancer called liomyosarcoma (again...spelling?) One of them was told that she would not live long, but has been cancer free for about 3 years, I think, after she had surgery to have all the cancer removed. The other one was my cousin's daughter who did not win her battle with the disease.
So as not to interrupt, I waited until he was finished talking and I said "Are you saying this is a liomyosarcoma?" He said "NO...it is a liomyoma" They are very rarely malignant. He said that is what my tumor is and it is definitely not malignant...not cancer...not liomyosarcoma!!!
So what we will do is this...
1. The cyst on my pancreas is no big deal. We will just leave it alone and have it checked in about a year.
2. Since I am having no symptoms, he is going to leave the gallbladder alone also. He said until I have symptoms, there is no reason to mess with it.
3. The tumor will definitely have to come out because it could bleed again.
They are supposed to call me tomorrow to schedule that surgery. It will involve taking about a third of my stomach out and reconnecting the rest of it to the duodenum. If it is in a different place than where Dr. Wiersema (the dr that did the endoscopic ultrasound) described then that plan might change, but he is not thinking I will lose my whole stomach...thank goodness.
I will have to have some pre-op tests, as usual, and I think they will schedule those when they call me tomorrow also. I will be in the hospital 5-7 days. I will not be able to drive for at least two weeks then it depends on whether I am taking pain killers or not. I could be off work up to six weeks, but he thinks with my job and my boss letting me come home if I don't feel good, I should be able to be back in three to four weeks.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Heading Onto Smoother Roads
I had the endoscopic ultrasound and needle biopsy today. Here are the things I found out...
1. The tumor is a muscular tumor and is benign...thank God!!!
2. I have a cyst on my pancreas that he wants to look at in a year. So I will have this test again next year.
3. I have stones in my gallbladder. So when I have the tumor removed from my stomach, apparently I will also have my gallbladder removed.
4. The tumor is not close to my esophagus so they will be able to take the tumor out while just removing a portion of my stomach rather than me losing my whole stomach.
5. The tumor has not grown since they found it three weeks ago.
What a relief! I am amazed that I have this tumor AND the gall stones. I do not have any symptoms of either one. I guess it's a good thing the tumor "decided" to bleed so I can get this all taken care of before I have any bad symptoms.
I see Dr. Yahanda on Monday and I'm sure he will schedule the surgery then. Hopefully that will be soon.
1. The tumor is a muscular tumor and is benign...thank God!!!
2. I have a cyst on my pancreas that he wants to look at in a year. So I will have this test again next year.
3. I have stones in my gallbladder. So when I have the tumor removed from my stomach, apparently I will also have my gallbladder removed.
4. The tumor is not close to my esophagus so they will be able to take the tumor out while just removing a portion of my stomach rather than me losing my whole stomach.
5. The tumor has not grown since they found it three weeks ago.
What a relief! I am amazed that I have this tumor AND the gall stones. I do not have any symptoms of either one. I guess it's a good thing the tumor "decided" to bleed so I can get this all taken care of before I have any bad symptoms.
I see Dr. Yahanda on Monday and I'm sure he will schedule the surgery then. Hopefully that will be soon.
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