Phone number

Shane is feeling better.  He had physical therapy today and was able to stand up and get into a chair.  Other than that the day was fairly uneventful.  Shane is ready for phone calls and he asked me to post the phone number for his room: (212) 543-7235.  Visiting hours in the oncology unit are noon to 8 p.m. Please call before coming.  He reports that the hospital food leaves something to be desired.  SOS.  SOS.  If you see matzo ball soup on your way here, please pick some up.

Room information

Shane has finally been transferred to a room in the oncology unit.  Hooray!  His new stretcher is much more comfortable than the hard stretcher he had in the recovery room.  He is not ready for visitors or calls yet, but I will post his phone number as soon as he is.  If you would like to send flowers, his room information is as follows:
     New York - Presbyterian/Columbia
     Milstein Hospital Building
     177 Ft. Washington Ave.
     6 Hudson South, Room 240 B
     New York, NY  10032

Still waiting for a bed

Hi everyone, Shane is doing better and better.  He's alert and smiling a lot, especially since he's got his magic pain button that he can press every 10 minutes to get a dose of pain killer.  Unfortunately, he is still in the recovery unit.  His surgeon wants him to go to the oncology unit and the beds there are full.  A bed was reserved for him this afternoon, but the patient who was supposed to be discharged has not left yet.  I'll post his room information as soon as he is transferred!  Alex

Fever be gone!

Shane's fever is gone but he is still in the recovery unit.  He had a bit of tachycardia last night and this morning, i.e. his heart was beating a bit faster than normal.  This can be a sign of a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) so the surgeon ordered a chest x-ray and CAT scan.  All of the tests came back normal and Shane should be transferred to a room sometime this afternoon.

Hospital Update

Hi people, It's Alex again.  In case you were planning to call or visit the hospital today, I suggest you wait a day or two.  The hospital called this morning to let me know that Shane developed a fever last night and they are keeping him in the post-surgical recovery unit so the nurses can monitor him more closely.  That means he isn't in the room they assigned to him last night and he can't have visitors, except for brief visits from family.  The surgeon said Shane would be in a lot of pain the first 36 hours, and he is mostly sleeping because of the pain medications.

Surgery report

Hi everyone, This is Alex reporting on Shane's surgery.  The surgeon was very pleased with the outcome of today's surgery: he said it was the best case scenario.   Shane received a temporary ileostomy rather than a permanent colostomy.  The surgery was done laparoscopically (with a small incision and cameras), which is less invasive and has a shorter recovery time than traditional open-abdomen surgery.  We saw Shane in the recovery room this evening and he was awake enough to talk and smile.

Hospital stay

I am scheduled to have my surgery next week on Tuesday January 12.   I will be recovering in the hospital for at least 5 days.  During that time if you'd like to visit or contact me please check my blog for information.  Alex will post my hospital room and the room phone number once I am able to receive calls and visitors.