Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

Yesterday Elliott had his surgery. The procedure he had was a Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic(VATS). In video-assisted thoracic surgery, the surgical instruments and video camera are passed through the chest wall and the surgeon uses images on the video monitor to guide the instruments.

Compared to the conventional thoracotomy operation, VATS for spontaneous pneumothorax is known to have quicker access time, less access trauma, reduced post-operative pain, attenuated post-operative immunosuppression, and faster recovery with shorter post-operative hospital stay. If you want to know more about this and all the details please feel free to Google it. After this procedure, they inserted a large chest tube in one of the holes used for this procedure which will remain for a few days. To help manage the pain he was given an epidural and other meds. The epidural is in his back but higher up, not quite like it is for women in labor. Most of his pain is felt in his shoulder. It was sad to see my honey laying there with so many tubes and wires coming from his body and hooked to all kinds of machines but I know he is in good hands. The surgery went well and now he just has to recover. We are hoping he can come home on Saturday or Sunday.

Right before he went to his Doctor's appointment on Monday he got a phone call letting him know that he had been selected 1 of 20 people out of 8,000 + to start this new training program. It is 8 weeks long. 4 weeks home study and 4 weeks in TN. He is so excited because this is something he has always wanted to do and not only are they going to train him but they help place him with a JOB! This is such a huge opportunity and we feel truly blessed that he was chosen. This is a new training program that will train him in Medical Device Orthopedic Sales. He did Pharmaceutical Sales for 3 1/2 years and then took a job in the Medical Device field doing Cardiac Rhythm Management (pacemakers/defibrillators). He only had 6 months before losing his job and has had a hard time trying to get another job in the Medical Device field with such little experience. This training program is exactly what he needed to get his foot back in the door for a job that he loved so much.

So in the mist of crazy life and seeing Elliott lay in that hospital bed, I couldn't help but feel so blessed from our Father in Heaven that I have a wonderful husband, 4 beautiful HEALTHY children, and that I live in a great Country that we have access to receive medical attention that most people are without. Although our Country may be hurting right now it is still one of the best places to live. The most important things in life is surrounding ourselves with the people we love and giving thanks for each day we are granted to spend with them. We never know when our last day will come. All the "stuff" that we can get so caught up on having doesn't even get to come with us when that time comes but only what we have in our hearts and minds.

I guess after so much "rain" our rainbow may actually be in sight.