The date is set for next weekend, Easter weekend...Dr. C arrives on Good Friday and if we cannot get O.R. for Sat. morning then he will opperate on Fri. at 2 pm..I hope that he sleeps well on the plane!
This new French Dr, Dr. B is remarkably human, but then again he has opted out of the public health system and works in a private clinque, owned and operated by surgeons only...it makes a difference (in price too!!!! )He will welcome doctor C and assist on a surgery that he has never done in a language that he does not speak! I am scrambling to find a translator! I will not be available to do it myself
I am finally scared. I know that this is it, the last try, the final attempt. If it fails then it fails and I must, without question chose another solution.
But I must remain optimistic. I have not come this far to give up at the last minute.
I am broke. I did not think that I would ever have to say that again, but there you have it. I have been trying to scarp together air miles to cover the doctor's ticket but I have finally resolved myself to the fact that this is a last ditch effort and no matter what the outcome I have got to get back to work, fast!
How in the name of heaven I will pay for all of this I do not know...but as they say in French...when it is a question of your health, no price is too much ( I should send them to speak with my bank manager! )
My best friend will fly over from Canada to take care of me (yes, Iknow, I am very rich to have such a good friend) once I am out of the hospital when I shall need her most...I will be in good hands in the clinic.
So...thank you one and all. Now would be a good time to say a little prayer.
Sharon

Wow! You've got a lot going on! I hope everything works out for the best and it's all worth the cost. If anything it should be worth it to know that you did everything you could.
Let us know how everything goes for you.
Best wishes,
Lori

Sharon, I cannot even imagine what you have been through with this ordeal. You are very strong! I think it's awesome that Dr Cohen is making the trip to come and help you, what a great man! I'll be thinking of you, I hope the surgery goes well and the doctors are able to fix things so you can function well again. Take care.

Sharon we all rooting for you.
I hope this really is what works for you..

Thank you for your wonderful good wishes....It helps me to keep going these days...
Well, the update on the news is that Dr. C will fly in Friday morning and opperate that afternoon!!!!!!at 2pm....My husband will pick him up at the airport and break ground speed records to get him to the hotel and then the hospital on time...this has got to be the stuff that movies are made of!!!!!!!!
His first meeting with the French Dr. will be in my room just before surgery!
I do hope that there are no linguistic misunderstandings or I may end up with my small intestine transplanted to my left knee
Much better to laugh then cry!
Apparently the anesthesiologist speaks a good english, hopefull he does not fall asleep during the procedure....So guys...where do we hide the easter eggs??????
Sharon

Sounds like quite an adventure and I sure hope everything goes as planned. But, bravo to your local surgeon who is willing to learn a few new tricks, even in these strange circumstances! There are wonderful people everywhere, in all walks of life...and they really make up for all the jerks and pessimists, don't they?

Good luck!!

Jan

Oh, yes, you are so right!
It is such a pleasure to actually sit and speak to a surgeon who does not talk down to me and treat me like dirt!
He is a very brave man, taking on the whole case and going along with this whole situation..I do not know if I would have the courage!
Who knows, maybe he will make this his new specialty!
Sharon

Sharon,
I really hope this does the trick. You are due for some better luck.
Thinking of you
Holly

Thanks Holly,
Will try really hard to be 'good' but i don't think that it is possible to be any better than I am now being ( barring the ice cream thing!)
Let's just hope that he sleeps well on the plane!
Sharon

Am getting very nervous although I will deny it with all that I've got to anyone who asks.
Things are dropping from my hands and walls and doors are jumping in my way when I walk. The sidewalk has even decided to buckle and twist under my feet just to bug me.....
I am living off of soups ( no veggies, just the broth ) and my dear old friend Haagen Daz...no nuts please!
Fear has become my friend. Every day when I wake up I do not know if I will be able to get the tube in or which tube will work if one does.
I start with the curve, soft one and then go to strait and finally curved but stiff...yesterday it took about 4 hours..I finally got a really tiny one with a bullet tip only to have it 'bend' so badly once in that nothing came out.
The is the problem..the valve is so 'bent' that the tube is cut off.
I still have my emergency folley 22 in place but it is the same problem.
This morning the strait medena went in on the first try! Figure that one out
That is when I have 6 seconds of hope that everything has stratened itself out and I cancel the whole procedure and go back to life but Iknow that it will not happen.
I can not live in denial..yes thisis going to happen and yes it is the last chance and yes, I am terrorized.
And yes, I need you all now.
Sharon

Sharon,
You are one strong, determined lady who has been thru alot. I wish you only the best on your upcoming surgery.

katey

Thanks Katey...one wouldn't know it from the last two days! Nightmares and sleepless nights...droping stuff and bulimic fits...( there is no ice cream left in Paris!!) Pastries that i never eat seem to be sucked up with a straw! (I can't eat the whole thing so I am eating only the cream!) These are not the actions of a sane and calm girl!!!!!!I have put on 6 llbs!!!! All on my ab!
Help...but the countdown has started and there is nothing I can do other than hope for no turbulents on the plane and no late take offs or landings...
Pic line scares me even more than that...last time it took them over 2.5 hours to get it in and a dozen tries...freezing and half naked on the table with a bunch of very kind but very frustrated nurses and doctors doing their best.
Is it possible that my surperior venacava is on the wrong side of my heart???I think that that is what they told me in the end...so I will warn a very unlucky radiological team and pray for local anasthetics!
On clear fluids from Weds. and in the clinique on Thursday ( beats jumping on the subway to go downtown the morning of!!!)
I am counting on your emotional support to get me through this.....
Still a crap shoot every time I try to intubate...never know what shape or size will fit..this morning it was the flexible curved but reasonably quickly ( Thank God for small miracles!)
Dr. C is still warning me of the possiblility that this will not work...and I will end up with an outside illio anyway...at least he is honest about it all...I have to respect him but I wish someone could give me a garantee!!!!!
Off to translate 37 pages of doc that they sent me from Toronto for Dr. B
Wish me luck that I do not make any mistakes in translation!!!!!
Sharon

Dear Sharon, I'm thinking about you, beautiful lady, and keeping my fingers and toes crossed for you. And I'm sending you lots of good vibes and luck from the Southern Hemisphere!

Thanks Nikki,
I am keeping it all crossed too...no sleep any more..I am off with my days too...I keep thinking it is tomorrow so maybe I am on Austrailian time!
Fear is gripping at me about now...I am plagued with the what ifs....and the answers scare me...What if I am wrong and this does not work? what if I made him come all the way out here only to make me an end illio? What if it was all for nothing? 7 years of surgeries to fix my beloved George (yes, George! cross gender pouch!)only to lose him...Nearly $100,000.00 between costs and expenses and no work...and a husband who is scared to death and ready to accept anything (almost )to get his wife back. No job, no appartment, no friends here to come visit (or very, very few I live way too far out of town!)traumatized grandkids who panic every time I go away and cling to me for their lives (too little to really understand surgery in another country!)and impossible to constantly say, don't ask me to pick you up, don't sit on my lap don't run into me...I miss holding the grand kids in my arms!!!!!!!On Sat. they all came over and my wonderful little grand son, 4 years old,( o.K. step grandson, but still) just climbed into my arms and wouldn't let go of me...they told him that I was going away again. I didn't have the heart to put him down...I need him as much as he needs me!
I want to be fixed and well and able to fly a kite with him and his sister or run down an alley in a park. I miss cleanning my windows and washing my floors ( tube popps out when I climb a ladder or wash floors! smart tube! )
Will I ever get my life back and a healthy K pouch or is this just a very expensive pipe dream of a very stubborn, very stupid woman?
Sharon