He's got a what? (The surgery, con't)
If this is any indication of the amount and quality of drugs my husband was getting in the days immediately following the operation, his response on reading the first part of my recounting of the tale was "You need to do the next part, I want to know what happened!"
So, we return to Oz?
We stayed Friday night until visiting hours ended. We did get more details on why it took so long. The tumor was inside the spinal column and was attached to the dura, one of the layers of the spinal covering. It was cramped quarters to work in and get it out, and they spent a long time scraping and cauterizing the area before they were satisfied they had removed it all. Since hubby was still very groggy and prone to drifting off, so we left him to the mercies of the night staff and headed home at the end of visiting hours. The kids were in bed by the time we got home of course. And the next morning, we left the little people in the trenches with the grandparents and went off to spend the day with hubby.
He was still not doing well with any food - just about anything he tried would induce nausea pretty quickly. And he had little to no feeling in vast swaths of his torso and legs, particularly around his stomach and left leg. And he had a horrible case of the hiccups. That part might sound amusing, but it wasn't. They looked gut wrenching, and they did not want to stop for love or money. Hubby's dad discovered a talent for hiccup whispering, and was finally able to soothe him out of them. Hubby finally drifted off into a hiccup-free nap, and we left to go wandering for refreshment and air. I got a cute balloon for the kids to give him when they came to see him (3 peas in a pod, one's got a bandaged head, one has a thermometer in his mouth, and one sad one with the message "Peas get better!") We put that in the trunk and ended up at the mall...where they have an Apple Store. We drifted in to the store - hubby's mom had been wanting an iPhone for a while now thinking we'd check them out. Guess what had just debuted That Very Day? iPads. We looked at them, we listened to the spiel. We played with one. We went to drink Starbucks and discuss what we had seen.
When he came home, he'd be on his back or lying or sitting for a long time.
He'd want something to do.
He's really started reading a lot more in the last year or two.
He loves tech toys.
We decided to split the cost and get him one - it would be his coming home present. (the AL grandparents got in on the split too - a something from everyone!). So at about the time he was awake and calling to see where we were, we were about to get in the elevator to go back up to his room. The doctors said it would be important for him to get up and about, so we took him walking around the halls for a bit - he had to have a walker, and I quickly came to refer to his IV stand as our pet Squeaky, because I think we had the squeakiest one on the floor. But he was up! For a little bit, at least. One lap and he was done, and ready to climb gingerly and painfully back into the bed. It was a start. He would very doggedly contine to do laps the whole time he was there.
So the medical team was very interested in the passing of gas. This was a vital activity to gauge the return of full functionality of the digestive tract. In addition to the temp/bp/pulse ox etc readings was that question - passed any gas? Burps were good. The other end was better. We were all 12 for the extent of this time. We stayed again till visiting hours were over - hubby was worried about us going since the following day was Easter, and all the nurses would be different. And again, the childrens were asleep when we got home. *sigh*
I had remembered in the few days before the surgery that it *was* going to be Easter, so I had gathered up some mostly non candy (and yes, of COURSE a few candy) treats to put in their baskets. Edible birds nest....a jelly fringed frisbee for Ryan (which they both loved and have been fighting over since, and of COURSE I can't find any more), a baton with glitter for Rachel (which was quickly confiscated when she could not stop bonking people, pets and furniture with it - yeah, shoulda known better!) Rachel got a cute beaded and begemmed wire basket, Ryan got a cute "basket" that I think was technically a gift container...but what it mostly resembled was a clear acrylic paint bucket with primary color thin stripes all around. Hard to find good "boy" baskets, but that was about as ideal as it gets - thanks Michael's! While they were doing that, I went out to hide plastic eggs in the yard. Hubby called and was in a bad way, so this actually consisted of walking around the front yard throwing eggs around willy nilly, then chasing everyone outside to "search" for the clearly visible prizes. There were 60 eggs this year, so we just told Ryan if he found 30 eggs first, to stop looking at that point, but Rachel had made great strides in her seek and aquire skills since last year, so they split them pretty evenly without much intervention.
And then we raced back to the hospital - as he'd feared, staffing was light to nonexistent, and he was miserable and upset. I'd hoped he'd be feeling enough better by now to have the kids come visit, but he said he wasn't up to it, didn't want them to see him like that. And he did not want to be there alone again that night. So as evening neared, I went home and gathered up stuff to stay, and we got started on the pattern for the next week. I brought the laptop (yay free wireless!) figuring I'd play with it or if he felt up to it, he could try. His parents left at the end of visiting hours, and we were on our own. He'd try shifting around but if he laid still for long, the gas and pressure in his stomach would get close to intolerable. We did some laps around the hallway. I played on the computer. We watched a lot of "Everyone Hates Chris". And I did a lot of feeling helpless to do anything more than look sympathetic while he was in pain. What I did not do was get much sleep.
He was still not able to do food Monday morning, so they took him off for Xrays. We'd decided that the AL grandparents would take the kids back to AL for the week (spring break) as we'd originally planned - if they let hubby come home during that time, it would probably be a good idea for the kids to not be there to jump on him right off the bat. His parents arrived midmorning. So after another bout of hiccups and a big misunderstanding on what the nurses were suggesting, we decided that he'd try an anti-anxiety medicine to see if it would help - the hiccups seemed to viciously come on if he was getting worried or worked up. I headed home to try to have a nice long nap. The AL grandparents headed off home and stopped to take the kids up to see Daddy. Unfortunately, the medicine they'd given hubby to try to help with the hiccups also pretty much knocked him out, so by the time they got there, he was pretty much barely aware that they were there. I had a report that he managed to smile at them, but that was about it. Rachel was very upset and started to cry. Ryan was being a very big boy about it all though.
So the Xray results came back - he had an ileus. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. In layman's terms, his guts were knocked out still, and full of gas. The medical staff said it wasn't an uncommon thing, particularly in cases of abdominal surgery. they said it could take a few days to start working again, and not to worry.
I was back again near the end of visiting hours to spend the night again.
His dad had to head home Tuesday, and from there on, our friend G was an invaluable help - he gave hubby's mom rides to and from the hospital.
So the doctors said the same thing Tuesday morning - Ileus was still there.
And Wednesday morning. I think that was also the day the pollen bloom hit. My car was white when I left it in the parking lot the previous night, and bright yellow by the time I went home to sleep. We talked to the doctor a bout the medicines - he was on a strong opiate...which supresses bowel activity. We had to get him off of that so he was switched to different medicines. Which while they didn't supress bowels so much, were not as effective as The Good Stuff.
And Thursday morning - the same story.
By Friday they were willing to admit that this was on the upper end of the bell curve. Oh yeah - the recommended treatment for an ileus? No food. No drink. So his nourishment during this time was hydration IVs, chewing on sugar-free gum, and sucking on hard candies. If you think that's not very nourishing, you're right. After having made the mistake of looking up ileuses on the internet...well first, let me say don't ever go searching for medical stuff online unless you want to know the worst cases. And second, I was starting to really have fears on this end. I was of the opinion that the best way to get the intestines going would be to GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO DO!
Saturday morning they send him for a dye obstruction test to see if anything was causing a blockage and maybe contributing to this. They were just coming to get him when I was headed home to try to sleep. I was woken up by the call to come take him home. They didn't see any obstruction and they'd started giving him food again. I brought his car (reclines better and easily removable carseats!) and his present. He teared up when we got him in the car and gave it to him...it was a good present, but I think he was even happier to just be going home. It was evening, and they'd given him prescriptions, so we literally spent the next few hours running aroung trying to get them filled. The late pharmacy near us was closed - the nearest 24 hour one they knew of was most of the way back to the hospital, but what are you going to do? Leave your hubby to suffer? We got his meds and slipped into a Jason's to get take home about 5 minutes before *they* closed.
But he was finally home. He'd lost almost 30 pounds, and he's not a chubby person to begin with. I could tell just by looking at him that he'd lost a ton of muscle mass. Thus began the long and still continuing recovery.
So, we return to Oz?
We stayed Friday night until visiting hours ended. We did get more details on why it took so long. The tumor was inside the spinal column and was attached to the dura, one of the layers of the spinal covering. It was cramped quarters to work in and get it out, and they spent a long time scraping and cauterizing the area before they were satisfied they had removed it all. Since hubby was still very groggy and prone to drifting off, so we left him to the mercies of the night staff and headed home at the end of visiting hours. The kids were in bed by the time we got home of course. And the next morning, we left the little people in the trenches with the grandparents and went off to spend the day with hubby.
He was still not doing well with any food - just about anything he tried would induce nausea pretty quickly. And he had little to no feeling in vast swaths of his torso and legs, particularly around his stomach and left leg. And he had a horrible case of the hiccups. That part might sound amusing, but it wasn't. They looked gut wrenching, and they did not want to stop for love or money. Hubby's dad discovered a talent for hiccup whispering, and was finally able to soothe him out of them. Hubby finally drifted off into a hiccup-free nap, and we left to go wandering for refreshment and air. I got a cute balloon for the kids to give him when they came to see him (3 peas in a pod, one's got a bandaged head, one has a thermometer in his mouth, and one sad one with the message "Peas get better!") We put that in the trunk and ended up at the mall...where they have an Apple Store. We drifted in to the store - hubby's mom had been wanting an iPhone for a while now thinking we'd check them out. Guess what had just debuted That Very Day? iPads. We looked at them, we listened to the spiel. We played with one. We went to drink Starbucks and discuss what we had seen.
When he came home, he'd be on his back or lying or sitting for a long time.
He'd want something to do.
He's really started reading a lot more in the last year or two.
He loves tech toys.
We decided to split the cost and get him one - it would be his coming home present. (the AL grandparents got in on the split too - a something from everyone!). So at about the time he was awake and calling to see where we were, we were about to get in the elevator to go back up to his room. The doctors said it would be important for him to get up and about, so we took him walking around the halls for a bit - he had to have a walker, and I quickly came to refer to his IV stand as our pet Squeaky, because I think we had the squeakiest one on the floor. But he was up! For a little bit, at least. One lap and he was done, and ready to climb gingerly and painfully back into the bed. It was a start. He would very doggedly contine to do laps the whole time he was there.
So the medical team was very interested in the passing of gas. This was a vital activity to gauge the return of full functionality of the digestive tract. In addition to the temp/bp/pulse ox etc readings was that question - passed any gas? Burps were good. The other end was better. We were all 12 for the extent of this time. We stayed again till visiting hours were over - hubby was worried about us going since the following day was Easter, and all the nurses would be different. And again, the childrens were asleep when we got home. *sigh*
I had remembered in the few days before the surgery that it *was* going to be Easter, so I had gathered up some mostly non candy (and yes, of COURSE a few candy) treats to put in their baskets. Edible birds nest....a jelly fringed frisbee for Ryan (which they both loved and have been fighting over since, and of COURSE I can't find any more), a baton with glitter for Rachel (which was quickly confiscated when she could not stop bonking people, pets and furniture with it - yeah, shoulda known better!) Rachel got a cute beaded and begemmed wire basket, Ryan got a cute "basket" that I think was technically a gift container...but what it mostly resembled was a clear acrylic paint bucket with primary color thin stripes all around. Hard to find good "boy" baskets, but that was about as ideal as it gets - thanks Michael's! While they were doing that, I went out to hide plastic eggs in the yard. Hubby called and was in a bad way, so this actually consisted of walking around the front yard throwing eggs around willy nilly, then chasing everyone outside to "search" for the clearly visible prizes. There were 60 eggs this year, so we just told Ryan if he found 30 eggs first, to stop looking at that point, but Rachel had made great strides in her seek and aquire skills since last year, so they split them pretty evenly without much intervention.
And then we raced back to the hospital - as he'd feared, staffing was light to nonexistent, and he was miserable and upset. I'd hoped he'd be feeling enough better by now to have the kids come visit, but he said he wasn't up to it, didn't want them to see him like that. And he did not want to be there alone again that night. So as evening neared, I went home and gathered up stuff to stay, and we got started on the pattern for the next week. I brought the laptop (yay free wireless!) figuring I'd play with it or if he felt up to it, he could try. His parents left at the end of visiting hours, and we were on our own. He'd try shifting around but if he laid still for long, the gas and pressure in his stomach would get close to intolerable. We did some laps around the hallway. I played on the computer. We watched a lot of "Everyone Hates Chris". And I did a lot of feeling helpless to do anything more than look sympathetic while he was in pain. What I did not do was get much sleep.
He was still not able to do food Monday morning, so they took him off for Xrays. We'd decided that the AL grandparents would take the kids back to AL for the week (spring break) as we'd originally planned - if they let hubby come home during that time, it would probably be a good idea for the kids to not be there to jump on him right off the bat. His parents arrived midmorning. So after another bout of hiccups and a big misunderstanding on what the nurses were suggesting, we decided that he'd try an anti-anxiety medicine to see if it would help - the hiccups seemed to viciously come on if he was getting worried or worked up. I headed home to try to have a nice long nap. The AL grandparents headed off home and stopped to take the kids up to see Daddy. Unfortunately, the medicine they'd given hubby to try to help with the hiccups also pretty much knocked him out, so by the time they got there, he was pretty much barely aware that they were there. I had a report that he managed to smile at them, but that was about it. Rachel was very upset and started to cry. Ryan was being a very big boy about it all though.
So the Xray results came back - he had an ileus. Yeah, I'd never heard of it either. In layman's terms, his guts were knocked out still, and full of gas. The medical staff said it wasn't an uncommon thing, particularly in cases of abdominal surgery. they said it could take a few days to start working again, and not to worry.
I was back again near the end of visiting hours to spend the night again.
His dad had to head home Tuesday, and from there on, our friend G was an invaluable help - he gave hubby's mom rides to and from the hospital.
So the doctors said the same thing Tuesday morning - Ileus was still there.
And Wednesday morning. I think that was also the day the pollen bloom hit. My car was white when I left it in the parking lot the previous night, and bright yellow by the time I went home to sleep. We talked to the doctor a bout the medicines - he was on a strong opiate...which supresses bowel activity. We had to get him off of that so he was switched to different medicines. Which while they didn't supress bowels so much, were not as effective as The Good Stuff.
And Thursday morning - the same story.
By Friday they were willing to admit that this was on the upper end of the bell curve. Oh yeah - the recommended treatment for an ileus? No food. No drink. So his nourishment during this time was hydration IVs, chewing on sugar-free gum, and sucking on hard candies. If you think that's not very nourishing, you're right. After having made the mistake of looking up ileuses on the internet...well first, let me say don't ever go searching for medical stuff online unless you want to know the worst cases. And second, I was starting to really have fears on this end. I was of the opinion that the best way to get the intestines going would be to GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO DO!
Saturday morning they send him for a dye obstruction test to see if anything was causing a blockage and maybe contributing to this. They were just coming to get him when I was headed home to try to sleep. I was woken up by the call to come take him home. They didn't see any obstruction and they'd started giving him food again. I brought his car (reclines better and easily removable carseats!) and his present. He teared up when we got him in the car and gave it to him...it was a good present, but I think he was even happier to just be going home. It was evening, and they'd given him prescriptions, so we literally spent the next few hours running aroung trying to get them filled. The late pharmacy near us was closed - the nearest 24 hour one they knew of was most of the way back to the hospital, but what are you going to do? Leave your hubby to suffer? We got his meds and slipped into a Jason's to get take home about 5 minutes before *they* closed.
But he was finally home. He'd lost almost 30 pounds, and he's not a chubby person to begin with. I could tell just by looking at him that he'd lost a ton of muscle mass. Thus began the long and still continuing recovery.