April 21, 2009

9PM

Sorry all - did not have time to write in the blog until now. I worked this morning, then hung out with Lynn in the afternoon, took care of the kids, visited Lynn again, then put the kids to bed. Not much time to settle in for any decent writing...OK, how about LEGIBLE writing.

Lots to report...got a call from her nurse last night - this was around 11pm. (These are all scheduled so you know when to expect them) Lynn was pretty much the same as she had been at 6pm. Very tired, and could not keep her eyes open long enough to get the breathing tube from the respirator out of her. Otherwise, everything was fine. The next morning, I got another call around 7:30 while I was at work. They had been able to get her off the respirator around midnight, and she was doing fine. They were planning on moving her over to regular room sometime around lunch time.

I took off from work around 11am and went straight over to the hospital. The critical care nurse moved her over about a half hour after I got there. I met them in the hall and Lynn was still pretty much out of it, and, like the nurses said, she again kept on nodding off. She did smile when she saw me, which is hopefully a good sign. Of course, I WAS standing in front of the candy machine, so who knows for sure. Later, she was placed in room 2019, and got settled in. The nurses left her in the recliner that they moved her in...they were planning on moving her over to the bed later in the day. For the time being, the staff wanted her to remain sitting up, as this would help out in getting her lungs back up to full function - the surgeon had to deflate them in order to work on her heart. We talked a little while...it is kind of hard to carry on a conversation with a person who keeps falling asleep on you. (Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of when I was dating, but I digress...) I'll never make fun of narcoleptics again. The nurse on duty said that this was due to the after effects of the anaesthetic, plus the fact that she got very little sleep the night before. Christa came by a little bit later, followed by Gary and Sharon. (Gary would have got there first, but Christa evidently dashed into the parking lot and took the last space, forcing him to use the garage!) Lynn asked about the operation, and I tried to tell her what happened, but, as she was unconscious for at least half the time, I realized that I was going to have to probably fill in a number of gaps in her information later. We left after a couple of hours, and let her sleep.

Later on, after Mac, Carlee, Sharon, Gary and I had scarfed down Sharon's liver and onions, I went back to the hospital and visited for a little while longer. She was much better, but was still having a hard time figuring out the day, and, between normal intervals of conversation, I got some rather weird questions (example: why didn't I record the kids musical show on Sunday? My answer: I have a reputation for not having a very good memory, but I am reasonably sure that the kids did NOT have a musical show on Sunday, and, besides, this was the day before she got into the hospital, so why didn't YOU record the %$#@ thing???) She also kept on taking her oxygen hose out, much to the chagrin of the nurses, and wanted to use her arms to push herself up in the chair, which, next to playing rugby, is probably the worst thing she can do over the course of the next 4 weeks. And, she wanted me to give her a piece of gum - when I told her that I had to see if it was OK with the nurses, she smacked me! Fortunately, the IV line was short enough that she did not have room to get up much momentum, but it does appear that her surgery has not had any detrimental effects on her coordination. (I retaliated by putting her in a head lock, and then using a pile driver on her, but she got a three count on me after diving off the top of the bed and then doing a body slam on me.)

She got her first meal since Sunday around lunch time today - meal might be something of an overstatement, as it consisted of jello, some kind of flavored ice, apple juice, tea, and some brothy stuff that she hated. The next meal was even better - the broth was CREAMY. I hope she builds up an appetite soon...she needs to get some food in her, since they won't let her leave until she makes a BM (I made the mistake of mentioning this to Carlee, and this totally struck a chord...I have a feeling that she will be relating this fact to any and all people she meets tomorrow at daycare, and when Lynn next appears there, everyone will cheerfully state to Lynn that they were glad to see that you FINALLY made a dootie!) When I left this evening, she was waiting on a couple of nurses to come in and move her to the bed. I understand that she gets to sleep all night long tonight (well, not if she wants to go number 2).

Tomorrow, the plan is to take out the chest tube...this will help out in her breathing, and hopefully alleviate most of the pain she has in her left side. Every time she breathes in deeply, it really hurts, and it is making her not want to inhale as deeply as they want her to try to do. This was a major problem for her when she had the surgery 20 years ago, and it looks like it will be an issue again. If everything works out (pun intended), she could be ready to leave the hospital on Thursday.