Dealing with Diverticulitis - Part 18 Hurray, Hurray, We Get To Go Home -

Don just got done talking with one of his many doctors and he will be released tomorrow.  He still has his PICC line in and will have to keep it for at least a week to have Alamosa Home Nursing Service come and give him his antibiotic twice a day. Not sure about the time we leave tomorrow, but whenever it is we are happy to finally be going home.  Don is doing much better and we even went outside today. He took me out to lunch....in the hospital cafe.  Not too bad for cafe food.  Looking forward to going home!!!

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 18 - Day 7 of Recovery

Just saw Dr. Kortz, the surgeon that did Don's surgery.  He is very pleased at Don's progress. He said that Don could possible go home Saturday.  He ordered to have the epidural taken out which was just completed.  After his abdomen wakes up fully he will be able to have his catheter removed.  That will be huge as it is difficult to walk with all the tubes and lines. 

Don's pain is minimal and his incision looks great.  He is dressed and sitting in a chair.  The Dr. also wants him to be weaned off the TPN.  Don is eating jello, broth, and popsicles.  YUM!!!!

We went for a "walk" down the hall and back three times.  Don does a "sprint" on his last lap.  He is trying to stay positive.  We are paying bills and that can be depressing....LOL.

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 17, Day 6 of Recovery

This is Don's 6th day of recovery after major abdominal surgery on July 22. I left on Monday to go back to Alamosa and get some things done and make sure everything was going well.  Callie and Casey have everything well in hand.  I spend Tuesday at home with the grandkids.  They are really filling and fun to be with.  I returned today and arrived around 4 pm. 

I brought up a CD Walkman and some praise music CDs for Don to listen too as well as some Audio Books.  He is really enjoying the Walkman.  It's light and easy to use and the ear phones fit around the ears so they don't fall off like the small ear-phones so easily do.  I also brought the papers for the last week and the mail.  Don's sister, Denice, gave him 3 packs of nice notes that a "guy" would send out.  They are really cool.

I was really surprised when I got back.  Don is eating jello and clear liquids.  His bowels are starting to wake up.  They also took the staples out of his eight inch incision.  It looks pretty good.  I call it the "railroad track" on grandpa's tummy for Sebby.  He loves trains and thinks it is cool that grandpa has his own "tracks".

Shortly after I arrived Don decided to get his walk in so we did two laps around the seventh floor.  He is looking pretty good and the physical therapy orders have been cancelled because he is doing well.  We also saw the "infectious Diseases" Doc on our walk.  I brough a new button up shirt for Don. (Stevo, it is Hawaiian style.) I also bought him some light weight "sports" shorts.  He put them on before the walk because he absolutely hates the hospital gown....who doesn't?!  So the Doc commented on how spiffy Don looked.

He still has his epidural in and his cathater.  The Doctors said he wouldn't be going home by Friday like he had hoped and I think this news made him "blue".  He is glad I am back.  When I came in, mind you it was 4pm, there were two days worth of dirty towels in the bathroom and dirty sheets.  I cleaned everything up, went to the linen cupboard in the hall, got sheets and made his bed.  I also got clean blankets and pillowcases.  He feels 100 per cent better.  He told me he had to shower by himself.  That is a daunting task.  So I am glad I am back to help him get all that stuff done in the morning.  I guess the staff get really busy, but really? Two days? Sheeze!!!

Dealing With Diverticulitis - Part 16 - Third Day of Recovery

Three days of recovery are over, hurray!

Don got up and "took a shower".  I think I have come up with a way to make some money when it comes to taking a shower where you really can't get anything wet.  It is a great way to wash your hair in a hospital bathroom.  Be watching for it on TV infomercials. "Only 19.95. But wait, if you order now you can get two extra at no extra charge." LOL.

Don says he feels so much better.  We had been joking about everytime he gets in the shower Dr. Paul shows up.  We got Don's birthday suit on and ready to go in the shower and guess who walked in?  This is the third time Dr. Paul came in while Don was taking a shower.  We just busted up. We chided him that if we wanted to see him all we had to do was head for the shower and he would appear.

Two Docs have seen Don today and the OT.  All of them have said he is doing really well for this early in the recovery process.  Don is determined to get better so he can go home and get on with life as it should be.  I am proud of him for remaining positive when he could have succumbed to depression.  It hasn't been easy but all the encouragement and prayers and cards have helped so much.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 15 - Operative Report

If you are a medical person you may understand this.  This is what the nurse wrote from the report after surgery.

 - abdominal exploration and lysis complex extensive adhesions
 - short segment small bowel resection and anastanosis
 - plication of two areas laceration small bowel, incidental occurance, take down of complex phlegmanas mas md abdomen
 - sigmoid colectomy w/hn prm anastamosis

Okay - I don't understand most of that.  What I do know is that his gut was really sick and twisted!

Dealing With Diverticulits - Part 14, Second Recovery Day

Don is resting a lot.  He did sit up on the edge of the bed for about 20 minutes before I got here.  It wiped him out though.

Dr. Paul was just here. He is a young and very kind man.  He answers all my questions and is really patient.  He doesn't rush in and rush out. He told us that they have an Infectious Disease Doc working with the vencose resistant strain of strep (VRS).  This is the resistant strain of bug found while doing surgery.  That doctor said he put drugs on Don that are working to get rid of that "bug". 

Because of the weekend we don't have the pathology report back from all the debridement they had to do in Don's gut.  This debridement is the cutting away of all the foul, scarred, and diseased tissue. This causes a tremendous amount of trauma to the organs. 

The "bridge bag" for the TPN was started this morning.  It has been four days since Don has had any kind of nourishment and this "bridge bag" is preparing his system for the TPN treatment.  This will begin his process of getting nourishment back into his system and building up the muscle and tissue in his abdomin.

It is Sabbath and Don wants me to hook up some praise music and also listen to Gary McCary's sermon live from Tierra Santa Church in San Diego.  Thanks Gary for all your encouragement and prayers.  Have a blessed Sabbath everyone.

Dealing With Diverticulitis Part 13 - Post Surgery Recovery

Don has a Thoracic Epidural in his back.  That helps him deal with pain without being on hard drugs.  However, he can't stay on that too long because it makes the bowels sleep.  For the first two days or so he can have it but then he has to get weaned off of it so that his bowels begin working again.  So far he is doing well.  He just told me that the Dr. came in and said, "I got the license number of the truck that hit you!" 

While they were doing surgery the lab tests showed some sort of resistant bug that the Dr. excavated from all the "rot".  This could be the reason why Don never healed and continued to abcess even in the presence of antibiotics.  The surgeon and internal medicine guys are very optimistic about Dons recovery and Don is trying to be a "good boy" about all they tell him to do.  This morning he couldn't get the "ball off the ground" with his spirometer.  This afternoon he has brought it almost half way up.  That is very good.

Right now Don drifts in and out of sleep.  This is good for him to get lots of rest and let the bowel heal.  In about a day or two the marathon training begins and I don't think he will like it.  But hey, gotta do what you gotta do!