We're finally home! We got home last night around 7:30 after a little more than 24 hours in the MDACC hospital. Here's the condensed version...

When they did the epidural, in preparation for the big liver resection, that didn't happen, the anesthesiologist thought it would be good fun to give me a rookie understudy to access his first epidural. He was Dr. McDreamy, so I was fine with it, after I had a little happy juice. You can't be completely out for the epidural b/c you have to sit still in an uncomfortable position while they play around in your spinal cord. Dr. McDreamy didn't bring his "A" game for this one, he stabbed around in there at least 8 times (from the puncture wound count on my spine), one time the entire left side of my body seized and my left leg jumped straight up off the table! At this point, I started to get a little worried, he kept hitting my bones, which I could hear and feel each time. I was asking if there was anything I could be doing different to help out, I could feel blood running down my back and the head anesthesiologist finally made him stop and she took over and of course had it in 5 seconds! It was pure torture and the last thing I remember before being completely knocked out for the "big surgery".

After I began to come out of the anesthesia after the not so big surgery, my head, neck, and shoulders felt like they had been fused together and I was wearing cast iron football shoulder pads. I had no movement in my neck and I could only lay flat on my back without a pillow to get somewhat comfortable. I just figured they had me in some crazy position during surgery and I was just sore. Then when I started weaning myself off the pain meds the headache finally became evident. If I sat up, I threw up, that was a given. The name headache or migraine does not do justice to the excruciating pain this monster was inflicting upon me!

Finally, Monday came around and it was time for the PVE, I had felt somewhat normal for a few hours on Sunday so I thought I was good to go. Monday, had different plans for me. I felt worse than the previous 4 days combined and they moved our 11:00am appt. to 2:30 without telling us so we were on the island ready to go at 10:30 stranded, for who knows how long. I couldn't even walk, I was hunched over my barf bucket in the wheelchair trying to avoid the food cart that seemed to be every where we turned! Joel got a hold of the Physician's Assistant and he said he was going to have an Anesthesiologist call us b/c something didn't sound right to him. So we camped out at our good friend Sara's house that is only 5 minutes from the med center so we could get out of there but still be close by, I crashed on the couch. At some point it was decided there was no PVE for me that day, so around 4 I mustered up the strength to try and make it through the horrendous car ride home. The minute we drove into our neighborhood, the anesthesiologist called and all I could hear Joel say was "Oh God", several times. I knew that wasn't good! I had barely made it all the way home without getting sick, so I went in the house, got sick and got back in the car to go back up to the hospital (30 minute drive).

Turns out I had a "Post Dural Spinal Headache", they punctured the membrane surrounding my spinal cord during the epidural and my spinal fluid was leaking out and making me violently ill along with the most ridiculous headache you could ever imagine! So, from the middle of my back up to my brain (your brain floats around in your spinal fluid too)was bone dry in the fluid department and I could hardly move, I was convinced my eyeballs were trying to free themselves from my head! I later learned that the lack of fluid causes the optic nerves to literally "pull" on your eyeballs from inside! I can barely type it without cringing in pain! The remedy for this fun stuff is called a Blood Patch. They make you hunch over again in that awful position and draw 2 syringes of blood from your arm, almost from my foot b/c I was so dehydrated, then they go a few spaces higher from your "leak" and do another epidural access but this time they inject your blood into the space in hopes that it will pool around the hole and the blood will clot and seal the hole. This is no fun and 5 times worse than the actual botched epidural itself! They made Joel leave the room b/c they have so many people faint on them from watching! I immediately felt the headache leave my body, it was a freaking miracle! I had to lie flat on my back for 45 minutes, which I went ahead and did for almost 2 hours! If the first blood patch is unsuccessful (95%), then a second one is done with about a 99% success rate. I was praying hard that there was not another blood patch in my near future!

So, I hope I caught everyone up on my lovely week! I am home and I am feeling like a new person. My Portal Vein Embolization is scheduled for Monday morning at 10:30, and the "big surgery" should follow in a month, keep your fingers crossed for us! Thanks for everyone's support and prayers! We will keep on trucking!