Hand Surgery

On Sunday, Suzanne had the operation on her right hand, as described in the December 7th post. The operation took seven hours and was largely performed under a microscope, because nerves and blood vessels needed to be moved. She recovered in the ICU for Sunday and Monday, but was moved to a regular nursing floor on Tuesday afternoon, where she will stay until released on Friday. She has a room to herself because the temperature must remain high to keep her blood vessels dilated, to ensure the newly attached vessels do not clot. In addition to that, her right arm is under a hot-air blower blanket. The net result of this means she is uncomfortably hot and drenched with sweat. However, the surgeon insists that the heat remain until she leaves the hospital to maximize the blood flow to the hand and migrated tissue.