First of all, Chris is resting now in ICU for the night. Like last time this is something Graham does when the surgery has been long (this one was about 5 hours?!?) and pretty intense, although we'd imagine he will get transferred to a regular room sometime tomorrow. But it might not be the same one, so I will let everyone know, or check at the front desk when visiting. I'll also give the green light on visitors once I see him tomorrow and get a feel for when he thinks he will be ready.
Again, Dr. Graham was pleased with how the surgery went. He located the stricture (kink) that he identified in the scope yesterday and tried to "un-kink" it several times, but it was not going to ever stay relaxed on its own. It was in the section of the bowel that he originally saved because there was no disease, but that had been wrapped around the abscess/infection and was severly traumatized. At the time, Graham felt it was worth saving but today it was removed (about 15cm) and then reconnected to the same stoma site that was created before. The stoma is bigger in diameter because it was created with the part of the bowel that is quite a bit larger than normal - BUT it will slowly shrink in size as the bowel relaxes from not having all the backup from the blocked portion anymore. Hopefully that makes sense!
Part 2: Graham also identified a different section further up that was narrowed. Although it wasn't creating a problem now, he thought it would do so in the future so he performed a strictureplasty, which is when a cut is made along the length of the narrowing/stricture. The cut is then sewn up in the opposite direction, which has the overall effect of widening the stricture without removing any bowel.
He feels like this really does put Chris in a position for success going forward. There is no more active disease, abscesses, or infection (thanks to surgery #1) and now the two strictures have been addressed and the traumatized portion removed. There is still plenty of small intestine left to absorb what Chris needs to function daily and over time, everything remaining will relax and decrease in size. Hopefully I covered everything!
On a humorous note, the McCabes were so nice to watch Cailyn (again!) yesterday while I waited at the hospital to meet with Chris and Dr. Graham following the scope. It was a later night than anticipated, and since Gina had a ladies' night out, Tim was left with the task of putting both girls to bed. Here's what he posted on his Facebook page that recaps his experience... Thanks Tim - you're a trooper!
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