Post-Op

It's been a long week. Surgery was last Thursday. What a long day that was. The surgery was a success, recovery needs to be as well. We got there at 5:30. My sister met us there to take Jesse for the day. We went in, got to a pre-op room. He was given a gown to change into. Nurses came in, asked questions, got his IV in, all that stuff. Then they sent us to this waiting room area where the anesthesiologist came in to talk, then Dr. K. They took him away about 7:30am. I met my Mom in the waiting room. We went to breakfast. A long breakfast. I knew the surgery would be at least 4 hours and I wouldn't be able to see him until he was out of the recovery room. Mom and I talked a lot at breakfast. I needed the distraction. I plurged and got the pumkin pancakes, eggs and bacon. I had gotten them last October when Paul had his first Myelogram at Edwards and I was pregnant. They are sinful. I felt I deserved them again. This would be the 4th surgery/procedure at Edward's Hospital within a year. There's more to come as well.

First Attempt at the IV

Waiting for the anesthesiologist

Dr. K met with us after he was done and informed us the surgery was a success. He mentioned that he didn't have to do the bone graft either, that he was able to use bone he shaved off and a small amount of cadaver bone. He stated we'd be able to see Paul in about an hour and a half when they moved him to his room. It was about 12:30, so my Mom offered to stay so I could run home, eat some lunch and take a break. So I did. I returned around 2pm and we still waited another hour and a half. I wish I had known, I would have taken a nap at home, lol. Between 3 & 3:30 they wheeled him out of recovery and we were headed to his room. Mom left to go home, I followed Paul upstairs to his room on the 3rd floor. I must say, the rooms look nice. I remember passing some rooms and wondering if they were the fancy rooms for rich people, thinking Paul would get a crappy room at the end of the hall that they save for WC insurance. Much to my surprise, Paul was put into one of these "fancy" rooms. There was a lot of wood, that's all, they really weren't as fancy as I had originally thought.

Paul got settled in and he was on a Morphine IV. I stayed for a few hours then I had to eat dinner with my family and get Jesse. Paul was not happy I left. In fact, the nurses had him move to a chair after I left and he got sick. He should have only been sitting for about 20 minutes and they left him there for over 1/2 hour holding the full puke bucket with the door open and no underwear on. He called me upset, so I called the nurse and complained.

Notice the lock?

I returned to the hospital early the next day so I could see Dr. K and hear what more he had to say. He didn't really have much to say, but did check Paul out thoroughly. Dad came over in the morning and took Jesse over to Cheryl's for the day. I spent several more hours there. Dave came by the hospital and bought me lunch then visited Paul. I left after lunch to get Jesse and stop at home. Dave offered to come to the house later and spend the night with Coda. Mom came and picked up Jesse for the weekend so I was left with no responsibility but to take care of Paul for the night. I got back to the hospital and Paul's Morphine IV was running out. It was shift change and there was some confusion. Before I knew it Paul was in some major pain and started going into shock, he was shaking, seizing and praying for it to stop. A got a nurse in and she indicated that the morphione ran out. She put in the new bag and had Paul push the button for his dose. She then did an override and gave him 3 extra doses, gave him 2 oral norcos and a valium. They changed the ice pack too, which was warm because no one had changed it for a while. It took about an hour and a half and they got him back to normal. That was scary as hell. I spent the night. There's this bench that folded out into a bed.

Since I have already made this long I will try to be breif with the rest. Saturday wasn't too bad, his parents visited in the afternoon. I stayed as long as I could then went home to sleep in my own bed and spend some time with the dog. I went back up there about 9am Sunday morning and we learned he was going to be released between 11am and noon. I got him home, trying to avoid every bump in the road and he was finally able to relax. I got him settled and spent some time straightening up the house, then my parents arrived with my little boy whom I so dearly missed. It was great having my family home and together again.