Mother's Procedure

Mother went in for her long-awaited D&C today. Although she had it at the AV Surgical Center the last couple of times, this time her doctor scheduled her for Lancaster Community Hospital Outpatient Surgery, presumably in case of complications that might require hospitalization.

We've always gone to AV hospital before and were pleasantly surprised to discover that Community is quite nice; Mother really liked the nursing staff. It turns out that our folks' neighbor from across the street (remember Vicky?) is the head surgical nurse, and Mother had a chance to tell her how pleased she was with the people when Vicky came in to visit.

The procedure itself went well. The doctor found an area of interest (he indicated something of less than an inch in size with his fingers) where he took samples. Because of the long weekend, it will be next week before any results of cultures are available, so we made an appointment for Mother to see him Thursday morning.

In the past, this procedure has caused some discomfort, but this time, Mother experienced a great deal of pain, and the nurses gave her an analgesic they described as "stronger than morphine." It took care of the pain, but it also upset her stomach. We did, however, manage to get her home after only a couple of hours or so, and she was much happier to be there than in the hospital.

She told us that, when the doctor had come in to see her before beginning, he asked her if she had any questions.

"No," she said. "Do you have any answers?"

Now we wait until Thursday, and then Mother may have some difficult decisions to make. I'll keep you posted.