Post Op Update #4

     Last night Prof. Erdogru stopped by our room at about 5:00pm. He brought with him 4 DVDs that he gave to us. This was our copy of the video that was taken during surgery. He told us that he had a few more things to do, and then he would come back to our room and review some of he highlights with us. After he left I commented to Shirlayne if we were in the United States and we wanted a copy of this video we would have to fill out numerous forms, go stand in line somewhere, probably pay a fee, all just to get a copy of our own medical records and documents. Before Shirlayne came over here she spent a couple of weeks on the phone with receptionists, faxing forms, emailing forms, going to a notary to get their stamp, all just to get her own personal medical records, so that she could have the complete story when he arrived here in Turkey. Here Dr. Erdogru made a copy and personally delivered it to us. That is how it should be.

     At about 7:00pm Prof. Erdogru came by. (I don't know if he noticed the Burger King sack or not, but if he did he didn't say anything.) I had already copied all the DVDs on to our laptop to make it easier for him to show various parts of the surgery without having to constantly switch DVDs. He walked through both the left and the right sides. Showing us the Pudendal Nerve on both sides, and describing the process that he took to get to it. He said that the sacrospinous ligaments are usually thin and soft, but Shirlayne's were hard, thick and tough. He had a hard time cutting through them with his small laparoscopic instruments. He did get through them and freed the nerve from the ligament on both sides. He found scar tissue around the rectal branch and perineum branch of the Pudendal nerve, more on the left, but also on both sides. He completely cleared out the scar tissue by cutting and extracting. Before he was done he had a clear view of the Pudendal nerve and all three branches. Then as he told us he would, he wrapped the nerve and branches with an omentum flap. Because of the surgery scar tissue will form again, but by wrapping the nerve with omentum (a healthy living tissue), the scar tissue should be kept away from the nerve permanently. Because it comes from Shirlayne's body, there is no chance for rejection of a foreign body. I believe in the literature I have read lately that this technique is now called the Tibet Technique, named after Prof. Erdogru. He was very pleased with the surgery, and said that he was able to completely decompress the nerve on both the right and left side. Now it is up to Shirlayne's body to heal. We asked a couple more questions, and he showed us different areas of the surgery. After about an hour of watching the video, he said he needed to go. Prof. Erdogru has been very anxious about Shirlayne's ability to sit without pain, as of last night everything in the pelvis is still very numb from surgery, Shirlayne says it feels similar to after receiving a nerve block. Prof. Erdogru says that for some patients it is not always immediate, and can take one, two, four, or even up to six months for improvement. Her nerve was very aggravated during the surgery, and for this reason we now will have to wait. We know Prof. Erdogru did all that he could on his end, and is very satisfied with the outcome. We now pray, that over time Shirlayne's nerve will heal and she will become pain free.

     Every Friday Prof. Erdogru flies down to Antalya in southern Turkey, where his first practice was. He returns to check on his former patients there and also sees new ones. So he said that he will not see us tomorrow but will see us on Saturday before we leave.

     That night we went for several walks around the 8th floor of the hospital (very romantic). Shirlayne is walking a little faster now, and able to pick her knee up higher. She can walk without the support of me and no longer feels lightheaded on her walks. She still needs the support of the boot to walk very far. She can get out of bed and make the short walk to the bathroom without her boot, she kinda drags her foot along the floor to get there. I am hoping that before we go home, she won't need it anymore. I guess we will see.

     After that it was another night of staying up late talking to the kids, grandmas, and our friends and neighbors who are helping us with our kids. (Thanks everyone!!) We finally decided it was time to go to sleep at about 4:00 am.