We had a very nervous night last night in anticipation of the surgery. It was hard to get to sleep and even harder to get up at 4am. It was stressful to have to make arrangements for Logan for the day with two different friends and equally as stressful worrying about how my MIL was getting to the hospital.
We got to the hospital at 6am for a 7:30 surgery. And, yes, you guessed it...surgery didn't start until 9:30. After 2 hours, we were told that the surgery was going well but they were going to be at least another hour or so. The surgery ended up lasting for 3 1/2 hours. The doctor came to talk to me after the surgery and explained that the delay was that they had to make sure they got everything they needed to get with the scope without having to cut him open and take a piece of rib. This decreases Jimmy's pain and recovery time significantly than if he had had to be cut open. Pathology did confirm what we knew...that the tumors were in fact sarcoma that had metastasized. After surgery, Jimmy was brought to ICU and was breathing on his own, which was very good.
When I got to the room, Jimmy looked pretty good. His face was a little swollen. He was very tired looking and completely stoned...haha. He was talking and coherent though. And, thank goodness for the pain pump to keep him from feeling any pain while the anesthesia wore off. He has 3 small incisions from the scope and a chest tube to drain the excess fluid and blood from his lung. He also had a catheter...yuck. All in all, surgery was a wonderful success. I can't tell you how relieved we both are that the doctor did not cut him open. I stayed until they brought Jimmy his oh-so-yummy liquid dinner, which he didn't eat and I didn't stay too long after that. He really needed to rest and I needed to get home to Logan. It was a very long and stressful day and I'm glad its over.
After surgery...looking pretty good
With his "lung" pillow for everyone to sign..haha
All hooked up
4.16.14
I went to visit Jimmy and he looked so much better than the day before. He was sitting up in a chair when I got there and he had walked a few laps around the unit already. The nurse had also removed the catheter by the time I arrived. Jimmy said it was painful and he was happy it was gone. I brought him Starbucks coffee to start the day and I brought one of his favorite foods for lunch...chicken cutlets...with my homemade honey mustard sauce, since he was told he could go back to a regular diet today. I was able to give him a sponge bath as well (hee hee hee) and he looked and felt better just getting clean. They took him off IV pain meds and started him on meds by mouth, which meant they could remove one of the monitors he was hooked up to...one less thing to drag around when he got up. It was a relaxing visit...I napped and snored a little while he sat in a chair watching tv...some visitor I was..haha. I did have to leave earlier than I thought, since my MIL wasn't sure she could get home in time for Logan to get home from school. I didn't want to leave Jimmy but I had to get home.
I called to check on Jimmy and had started to feel really bad. He was in pain and had started to run a slight fever. I was worried, especially since I left early. When the doctor came in a little later, he said that a slight fever was okay and that they would watch it to make sure it didn't get too high. If this is the only issue he deals with while in the hospital, we'll take it. This has been so much better than we expected...thank you Jesus.
As always, we appreciate all of the prayers, support and the outpouring of concern for Jimmy's health and the well-being of our family. Thank you so much.
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