Dear Family and Friends,
Today. Was. Exhausting. At 7am, a neurosurgical resident told us that the newest MRI result showed a larger leak than in the previous scan. That resident wrote orders to make Zac nothing to eat or drink for the rest of the day and restarted IV fluids, implying that a second surgery was needed to suture the leak closed. However, nothing was scheduled or definite. We spent most of the morning reeling, as this wasn’t expected since Zac’s symptoms have been improving. Around 1pm, the neurosurgeon’s PA told us that the residents were “puzzled” by Zac’s lack of symptoms with the larger leak scan result and that they weren’t quite sure what to do about it. Finally around 3pm, the actual neurosurgeon determined that the larger leak is just residual from the original leak and that Zac does not need a second surgery! In fact, he will probably be discharged tomorrow. Thank goodness!!!
For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of an experience at a teaching hospital, the hierarchy of doctors goes as follows: residents, fellows, attendings. Attendings are the big shots (like Zac’s neurosurgeon) who train new doctors and come up with cutting edge techniques. Fellows are doctors with some experience but not as much as the attending. Then there are residents…who can act like teenagers thinking they are grown-ups. Ugh. The resident today was one of those. Overall, our experience has been pretty positive. But today was beyond frustrating and scary because of an overly ambitious and minimally communicative staff. Arg!
Anyway, it is behind us now and the important part is that Zac is hopefully coming home. He’s been walking the halls and is feeling really great. The emotional toll of today left both of us fatigued but that should give way to total happiness when our family is back together under the same roof. In all the fuss, we forgot to ask for the pathology results. We are hoping to have those before we leave, so please keep praying that the tumor is benign. Also, please pray that Zac gets to come home tomorrow. We are so ready!!!
Believe in Miracles,
The Bollinger Family
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