Surgery

5/05/2022

Gallbladder removal went smoothly! We woke up at 4:00am (!) for the early morning surgery. The actual procedure took about two hours, but we were at the hospital for eight. Ian was under general anesthesia for the robot-assisted laparoscopic cholecystectomy (that’s a mouthful!). He woke up in a good deal of pain and with four small incisions in his abdomen. The surgeon said that the gallbladder didn’t look too inflamed and he didn’t find any stones, so we’ll never know if it had to go (but better safe than sorry!). We were home in time for an afternoon nap (and a Zoom meeting). Ian should be substantially recovered in two weeks… in time for his stem cell transplant! He is now scheduled to begin transplant on Friday, May 20th (a month after expected). Let’s hope that date sticks!

In the days before surgery, Ian and I escaped to the beach! Since we will be planted in Durham through the summer, this was our chance to get away. We drove down to Wilmington (with Marriott discount form in hand!) where we walked by the river and chillaxed on the sand (and I reminisced about college summers). To top it off, a visit to nearby “Bald Head Island” just seemed fitting!