Josh's Big Surgery 2011 -- Part 2 of 3

September 8, 2011

Thursday at 5:20am

We both slept well tonight. Josh even slept thru his cares at 4:30am. He was sleeping so well he was able to skip his meds at 4am thus waiting till 6am to get a larger dose of meds which will be good when he start Physical Therapy today. Moving him is painful and the extra boost will be good.

Thursday at 6:24am

Today is movement day. We changed is clothes and later will change his bed. We also turned him kind of on his left side. It’s a little uncomfortable for him as he has been totally on his back all day yesterday. But he needs to move and be on his sides. He wants to go on his tummy which may be more than he can handle right now. PT will help us figure all this out, but it is defiantly a 2 person task.  It wipes him out but he is now sleeping again. Of course Codeine and Valium can do that.

Thursday at 6:55am

Song running thru my head:

This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.

This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.

Rejoice! In the Lord.  Rejoice! In the Lord. 

Thursday at 10:22am

Good day today. PT came in to show us how to get him to and from bed to wheelchair. He did a real good breathing and with pain was able to assist moving himself to and from bed. Then he wheeled himself in wheelchair down the hall a bit. Watch out Josh is driving!

Thursday at 1:30pm

Josh fed himself lunch and ate most of it. He is excited to go down to the playroom and find some games. His IV has been removed and will stay that way as long as he is drinking plenty of fluids. He has thoroughly impressed the PT team at how well he did without complaint or crying.

Thursday at 3:10pm

Josh went down to playroom. But there were so many kids and the video games were not working so he chose a game to bring back to his room. He drove himself ALL the way down and part way back before getting tired. I suggested he sleep a bit and then play game. He said he was not tired. We got him into bed and no sooner put the pillow behind him and he was out. 2 1/2 hrs later and he is still asleep.

Thursday at 5:45pm

He just woke up and playing his video game. 

Thursday at 6pm

 SOOOO engrossed in his game he will not talk to me. I have to block the TV to tell him dinner is here. He does not want it.

Thursday at 6:30pm

We have been (As usual) blessed by the staff here at LLUMC. The only down fall I see is that the patients get better food than what is served in the cafeteria. Why..you ask? Because the patients actually get MEAT. In the cafeteria they only offer Veggie everything. A veggie dog is NOT a hot dog by any means. And what is sadder is the short order cook does not even know what the veggie burger tastes like. Reason: 7th Day Adventist whom evidently don't eat meat.

Thursday at 7:45pm

He is doing great! He played for 2 hrs. Nibbled part of a cheese sandwich then feel asleep again.

September 9, 2011

Friday at 5:43am

Josh slept thru the night even able to wake for his 1am meds. At 4:30am his fever spiked to 102. It has been sitting at 99.5* & 100.5*. Please pray that his body will fight whatever it is fighting and get the temp down. This would be the only thing to keep him longer--and he wants to go home.

Friday at 6:45am

My devotion this morning:  

Isaiah 2:15-17 "He will break down every high tower and every fortified wall.”

Friday at 7:15am

Josh's temp is back at 99*. And today he actually wiggled his toes on both feet. Something he had not been able to do. One of the Dr's assistants came in. He said because of the surgery he will run a bit of a fever, and if meds are keeping it in check then he can go home. As well, he said 99* is not a big concern, if it were to stay at 102* it might be different. We will see what the Dr says when he comes in.

Friday at 9:30am

One question they always ask Josh is to wiggle his toes. He has not usually been able to do this before surgery and so the last 2 days he said no. This morning he wiggled his toes on both feet. Slight but wiggle none the less. 

Josh had some breakfast and wanted a bath.  He was in a lot of pain and so they gave him some Morphine.  We gave him a sponge bathe which he really liked.  Get the yuckies off him.  But then he was so tired he wanted to rest.

 Friday at 10:40am

Dr came in and says Josh can go home if he wants.  At first Josh said he wanted to go home, but then before he fell asleep he told me he changed his mind and he wants to stay.  I told him to sleep and we would discuss it after he woke up.  Experience has taught me that if he says he wants to stay it is better to stay.  So we will see.

Dr is not concerned with the spikes in temperature as it is part of his bodies healing process. As we are able to control the temp with Tylenol and Ice packs so there is no problem.

Friday at 12:00pm

Josh is sleeping.  We got his med schedule off track and he had to have some morphine due to some extreme pain.  So He is sleeping now.

Friday at 3:00pm

Josh woke and we discussed going home or staying another night.  He said he hurt and wanted to stay another night.  So I told him; “Josh, you will be hurting for a while.  So would you rather hurt here in the hospital or hurt at home with daddy?”  He said he would rather hurt at home.  So we will make plans to go home.

 Friday at 4:30pm

We are in the car and on our way home.  It is a journey as we have to navigate his seating to make sure he is comfortable.  We had to stop once for him to go to the bathroom and then again to readjust his seat.

Friday at 6:30pm

                HOME AT LAST!