What a wild 24-hour ride. Thankfully, we're back home & Jess is in some pain, but it's good to be back in her own bed (and percocet helps).
We went to the hospital thinking her pain was GI related. Had we known that it would be a GYN issue, we would have gone to or own doctor's hospital. However, the MD's were all stellar clinicians and capable surgeons, and all went smoothly. I was updating our private MD, who agreed with the team every step of the way. Big thanks go to them.
One notable "kudo" to the GYN team for changing the plan this AM. After the ultrasound in the ER last night, a decision was made to observe Jess until a formal U/S by a technician could be performed in the radiology department. So we were waiting for that anxiously. Just before she went to get her U/S, the GYN PA said, "Cancel that" and told us that after the team discussed it, another "formal" U/S wouldn't really change the plan for Jess because we would likely need a diagnostic laparoscopy anyway. That decision saved us 1-2 precious hours and showed the clinical guts it takes to be a confident doctor.
They could have done the test "just to be sure," but if it wasn't going to change the plan, why waste time and money? They could have gone ahead with the U/S (the tech was ready for us), and that would have clinched things for the record before going in, but they didn't. I respect that wholeheartedly. As an MD myself (and as an American citizen who cares about healthcare and its costs), I know it is difficult to resist the urge to order more tests "just to confirm again" or to cover oneself from legal consequences, but I maintain that if you can show (and document) strong clinical skills and good sense reasoning, unnecessary tests remain unnecessary. I have always felt that, while many unnecessary tests are done by doctors practicing "defensive medicine," many tests are also done when there is a lack of self confidence in a doctor's own decision making capabilities or when the doctor simply doesn't know what the heck to do. I see it all the time. It was quite refreshing to see a medical team (especially a GYN team, who have the highest malpractice issues of any specialty) use their collective minds and guts instead of relying on testing that wouldn't help Jess or them in any meaningful way. It may be that those precious hours saved actually saved my wife's ovary. Rock on to Doctors with Brains!
One thing troubled my wife: every doctor asked her how many children she had. This was clearly done to find out how heroic the surgeons needed to be in order to save the ovary. Understandable: a 16 year old girl with her reproductive life ahead of her would require her ovary more than a 39 year old woman who had her family and was done. Jess didn't like the way it was asked. She felt that the discussion should be opened with "Are you interested in having any more children in the future," rather than "Do you have any children and how many?" A 20 year old woman with no kids may have no interest in having kids ever, while a 35 year old woman with three kids may desperately want one more. This could be seen as nitpicking, but I saw what Jess was getting at. She didn't want the fact that she had two healthy kids at home tilt the odds against having any more in the future, and she didn't want to be judged as possibly being greedy for wanting her ovary saved. I see her point. Of course, by the time she was sent down to the OR, she was in so much pain she might have agreed to having both ovaries out, a hysterectomy, and an appendectomy all in one shot done with a samurai sword!
Anyway, I couldn't be more pleased. Thank G*d. And thanks to all you DIsers who shared your prayers and good ol' PD. It made the waiting room less stressful. It really makes a huge difference. And while Jess is surely not a DISer (she is the Ying to my Disney Yang in this house), she did like that she got pixie dust sent her way. Of course, when I asked her if she wanted to celebrate her successful surgery by going to the Poly for a few days, she nearly ripped my voicebox out of my throat.

I just can't help from trying...
On a Disney note, I have always felt a bit bad that I could never go to these Disney meets around the country - whether it's Mousefest, Podcast cruses, DAP, ABD,
D23 Expo, etc. I really wanted to go to D23 this week, but again, I have patients that need me and a family that needs me. It bothers me at times. However, had I booked a trip to the D23 expo prior to this happening, I'd be screwed. Now that my wife is home safe and needs me to help her heal, I really couldn't care less that I'm missing D23. I'm glad I'm home. Now I just have to remember that when I hear about DAP this winter, I can say that I wish I could join you, but I need to be where my heart is - home with my wife and kids...
And there is nowhere else I'd rather be more.
M&Ms for everyone at Chat tomorrow night... on me!
G'night - I haven't slept more than three hours over the last 42 hours, and I did a huge bike tour during that time. (55 miles on Sunday and 50 miles on Monday).
