Day 28 Wednesday

We went up to the Med Center today and Dad got his Hickman catheter taken out. Other than he had to wait 1 hr. and 45 minutes past the scheduled time, everything went well. A P.A. in intervention radiology took it out and she did it just in one of the bay areas in pre-op...not in a surgery room. It just involved numbing the area around the catheter, taking the sutures out, wiggling the catheter at the exit site, and then pulling the tubing out. After it was out, she applied pressure to the area for 10 or 15 minutes. Dad needs to keep a gauze bandage on it for 2 weeks and can't get it wet...so we'll cover it up with a water proof bandaid before he showers. He can't sleep on that side (his left) for a day or two, because it could cause the clot to dislodge and it could start bleeding, so he'll sleep in his recliner for a few nights just to play it safe.

The PA told Dad that she remembers only 10 years ago, when anyone had a stem cell transplant, that they would have to stay in the hospital for 100 days. They have sure come a long ways in that short time to improve things....and to think that Dad got out of the hospital on day 11. It sure shows the value of research! They still have carried over the 100 days notion though...the next appointment Dad has with Dr. Bierman is on day 100.

I chose not to be in the room when they pulled the catheter line out, so I waited out in the surgery waiting room. I was wondering how much longer it would be...since it had been over a half hour and that's about what the PA said it would take. So when I heard the gal at the reception desk talking about "Mr. Sawatzki" I thought they would come tell me to head back to his room. There was a guy talking at the desk so I waited until he was finished and then I went up and said that I heard someone say Mr. Sawatzki. She said yes, she did, but that's all she said. So I asked if I could go back to see him and she said that the guy that had been talking at the desk was heading back. He stopped in his tracks when he heard me talking about Sawatzki and I looked at him and I said, "Wait a minute...is your name Sawatzki, too?" and he said yes. The receptionist then asked me to spell the name and when I did, the guy said "that's right"....and I said..."you're a zki??" And he asked me if I was a Sawatzki. We both about flipped. I mean, what are the odds that 2 people with the very uncommon name of Sawatzki would be in the surgery waiting room at the same hospital at the same time????!!!!! Well, we had a nice conversation and it turns out his great great Grandparents were Johann and Anna Sawatzki...so his great-grandfather was great-grandpa Tony's brother. He said he might have some interesting family information for me, so we exchanged emails...and I just marveled at the smallness of the world! And to think...if Dad's procedure would have been on time (and not almost 2 hours late)...I would have missed this Sawatzki connection!

After Dad was released, it was a bit late for the massage I had lined up for both of us...so I bowed out and let Dad have a foot and hand massage that he really enjoyed...so he ended the day very relaxed...although he was very relaxed during the whole pulling the catheter procedure.