Charleston Bound, part 2

Panda, plan B is always good. I am almost 3 weeks out from my stage 2 - and I know from experience that sometimes, plan A-D fall through, so Plan E was needed, and then, F, G, H and I!!! (LOL)



My stage 1 was to be 4 days in hospital and then 1 week in Charleston. I had 2 people lined up (plan A and plan and had a reservation at the Mt. Pleasant Holiday Inn - at a reduced rate. However, I was able to get into Hope Lodge and the Holiday Inn had a great cancelation policy - so I was good to go, right?



I canceled the HI, went to Hope Lodge and checked in with hubby, surgery next day. My left side was very small veins and apparantly I had a hematoma as well, so 3 days after surgery I was back in the OR with my left flap to be removed. Add another day or two to hospital stay - plan A and plan B both had other emergencies pop up! Hubby had to go back to work!!!! Plan C came into play with a good friend who has a pilot for a husband flying into town and spending the week with me at Hope Lodge. And, anticipating driving me home! NOT!



Plan D came into play here as I kept 'springing leaks' and a wound vac was my next option - my husband flew in to be with me (my brother is a pilot and we got one of those 'iffy' buddy passes that sometimes leave you stranded) and was there about 36 hours until my Plan E started with my DIL flying in (with airline passes for her job) and staying 4 days, again thinking I would be released with her driving us home. Not to happen, I was still on the wound vac and needing some serious Dr time so he could adjust the wound vac. You get my drift?? Again, Praise God - another caregiver drove into Charleston to be with me for 10 days (which included a hospital stay for me and free time for her) what was that, Plan F??? That caregiver had to leave after the 10 days, and hubby flew in again, all the time I am still at Hope Lodge!!!! Hubby left, yet another caregiver flew in (with the help of my brother) and she was determined to get me home! The day she arrived we noticed another leak, which again got me another stay at ECMC and her lots of free time! BUT she was so determined to get me home, she finally did!



So that made Plan H that finally worked! I AM AT NO MEANS NORMAL - NEVER HAVE BEEN PROBABLY NOT EVER GOING TO BE - SO DON'T BE ALARMED, THIS IS NOT THE NORM, OR EVEN CLOSE.



I guess my point is that no matter who I would have asked or how I would have planned, nothing would have forwarned me about my convoluted journey through stage 1. And, that lots of prayers were answered with each and every caregiver that joined me at Hope Lodge. But, I never would have thought it would happen or be possible for so many to be there for me! Prayer works and did for me!!! Only way I can attribute the way they just 'showed' up or could erase their calendars for me!



Good to have some options, though! This next time I have my DIL lined up, with a back up of one of my two sons (both are in line to be back ups in case one falls through). All else fails my hubby will have to extend his stay and lose some vacation days.



Funny how these things all work out - and so far from what I thought they would work out as.



Will pray yours works for you!



Marty, did you find a place for that chair??? (LOL) I know what you mean about preparing the house for coming home. My house has had stuff at hip level since December when I put it all within reach, and will stay that way until I'm good and healed - so I didn't bother to put it away. A nice table cloth over the stuff on the dining room table makes it out of sight - for now.



Cabinets are another issue!

Panda, I hope I didn't scare you. My second stage 1 came off without a hitch - I had back up plans ( sons) but never needed them! I was prepared for the worst but hopeful for the best and the best happened. My first stage 1 I believe was NOT the norm, and my only point was truly that we can plan but things might and could go opposite of our plans. I also had an extra 40 pounds at the time of my first surgery which I was able to lose by my second stage 1. That could have weighed heavily ( pun intended) on the outcome!



Not at all to scare you from going ahead with your plans. I think the saying goes: "we make plans, but God directs our steps ". Proverbs 16:9



And in my case, the hand of God was entirely there, the Hope Lodge (free) but most importantly available all the time I needed, almost 6 weeks; the 4+ DH caregivers; and superb Dr and staff that made 2 house calls to Hope Lodge ( not to mention all the wonderful people I met at Hope Lodge while there for so long).



I almost deleted the post about the plans not going as planned, but think truly that both sides of the coin need to be told. And, all is well that ends well, I'm hoping for a very happy ending!

Exactly, Cascader, it all seems to work out! Wish I said that and not scared Panda!!!

Panda, sounds like a great plan!!!



My second stage 1 - the re do of the left flap, I could have left on schedule (a week or so after surgery). But because I had a condo I rented equal to my first go round time wise, I had to stay! Again, it was a breeze! But I also had the ocean to look at every day, so I was in no hurry!



I think your plan is perfect, plan for the worst, hope for the best and as Cascader said it all works out - don't worry about it!



In three weeks I return for stage 2 and will do just that, not worry about it. If I need to extend my stay, I'm positive Ill find something - my car has a big backseat if all else fails! But I like that idea of camping out at the beach although they have crazy tides

Ditto to what Catie said. I had complications in the hospital that extended the stay there by 2' more days. So Dr K had me stay another 4 or 5 days beyond my first post-op.



That was lucky because over the weekend I had a new complication. I went home about a week later than originally planned and had to get a ride 3 hours each way from my home back to visit the Dr in Charleston every week for 6 weeks. Nothing like Catie's wild ride but it shows that stuff like this can never be completely planned. But ... the surgery is worth any hassle and I have confidence that if you plan as well as you can - if. stuff doesn't follow the plan ... you will come up with something. Even if I hadn't been 3 hrs away fom Charleston by car and had had to figure out a way to stay there all 6 weeks it would have worked out. In fact there was one time Catie turned up in the waiting room (purely by chance) and offered me a ride back to my condo ... I had gotten a ride there but had no idea how I was going to get back!

I would think that would be doable, the only thing is you would have nothing to eat or drink (as I remember) before the MRA, so that would be my guess as to why mine were always scheduled for 9 ish. Other option would be to stay near the airport first night, a hotel that is near the airport with a shuttle, so you could pick up your car the next day?? But that too would make you later than 9 ish....



There may be other reasons to have it done early - I don't know - you need to bring the disk with you to the appointment with Dr. Kline (or I did).



My scenario went like this: arrived the evening before and got the lay of the land, out to dinner, then did the 9:00 MRA, then drove to East Cooper Medical Center to pre-register, then an appointment with Dr. Kline and back to condo. The pre-register, pre op and MRA keep you busy but luckily they are all pretty close to each other.



You should have time to go shopping to stock your kitchen with things for you to eat (and/or your caregiver) in between or after your appointments that day. You will have instructions on what to do medically (like the antibiotic) and washing the donor site, etc., but a pretty full and doable day full of stuff.



I don't know how big of a city you live in, but I'm near Atlanta, and it's a drive to get from one area to another, not so with Mt. Pleasant and Charleston - very easy (except maybe at rush hour then just okay) to get around. But again, the Dr, Imaging Specialist (MRA) and the hospital are so very close to each other it's not funny!!!!



Will be pulling for you!!!!



Hugs

Great! See, it all works out. And it will be better if you arrive at that airport when you get home too! Good that its working out. The MRA people are as nice as can be as well.

Panda, you can call Imaging Specialist (MRA place) when you call with insurance info - the number will be in a booklet Chris sends you - and they can give you directions to give the taxi-



I thought I remembered hearing there is/ was a shuttle from Sandpiper - ? I could be wrong!



hugs

I'm in Charleston now. It's way colder than when I was here in December!



Stage 2b bilat SGAP just one week away.



Martyj, do you think I should wait to go to plantations in three weeks? (hopefully I will feel like walking around two weeks post op) Boone Hall or Magnolia? Spring is late here and not seeing blooms. Is there a bloom cam

Panda,



If it's helpful for you to know in advance - I paid $34 in taxi fare to get from the airport to the area near East Cooper Medical Center.



Imaging Specialists (for the MRI) is approximately 3 miles from ECMC (I'm guessing on the distance). I had a rental car by then and started off at Imaging Specialists and then went to ECMC (after a quick stop for breakfast) for pre-registration (took about 30 min.), then went to see Dr. Baron and Dr. Kline. I had to go over to another hospital after that for the dye injection to have a SNB before BMX the next morning.



So my day started at 9:30 and ended by 6. But I was an active BC patient, so I had a couple of extra steps to take. And I saw Dr. Kline in the West Ashley office, which I believe was about 20 minutes from ECMC. Marty's suggestion of mapping it all out ahead if time is a good idea.

MartyJ,

Thanks!  I will probably go to Magnolia - fits my budget better.  Was at Third Thursday in Summerville yesterday -- nice, but nippy.  Wine warmed me up.  Guess I'll have to put on my turtleneck, coat, hat, gloves to go on my beach walks.  Glad I'm here a long time -- I'll get to enjoy the area eventually when the warm weather returns. 

Beth, knowing you said you were lurking, but wanted to give you hugs and you are in my prayers!!!

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to check in and let everyone know I made it home without major incident.  I truly appreciate every one of you and the love you guys have shown me.  Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Beth

Pink - you sound like you have an amazing plan.  Though, I wouldn't want to get bumped and banged at the Flowertown Festival with drains in.  You might be safer enjoying it from afar (your friends shop is perfect).  Have fun!

Catie, did you rent from VRBO? If so you can leave a review, most rental sites have this. I am not a big fan of on line review sites as we own our own business and many time bad reviews are from competitors or ex- employees, but... good or bad , they do work. Sorry you have to deal with this hassle.



Pink, love hearing of your adventures. I will be making a vacation out of this trip also and have 4 days before and 8 days after. Hoping this time around will be a breeze, just hope I can handle my sister for that long!.

I have stepped up my workout routine in preparation for my May 3 surgery. Having the flu last time was miserable. Hope the weather is turning nicer for you.