MORE ON DEB
Deb got through her surgery well. Last night, they finally let her suck on a few ice chips. Yeah!!
The surgeon found a piece of her descending colon that was free of diverticuli. He was able to save 8-10 inches, which is 8-10 inches more than they thought could be salvaged. The rest of the colon was riddled with the disease. She still has an NG tube coming out of her nose (that is a drain that empties the stomach of acid and bile since there is nothing in there to dilute it). She is hoping to get that out this morning. She still has a catheter in and pain control has been an ongoing problem. I talked to her a little while ago, and that finally seems to be going better.
She is tired, because as we all know, hospitals are very restful places...not. She is also running a fever and her breathing is not as clear as it should be. They haven't taken the dressing off of the incision yet, but I'm hoping that there isn't an infection developing. (Although on second thought, that would be better than in the gut itself.)
She's not yet up to having visitors or talking to very many people, hopefully now that her pain is under better control, maybe she will be ready for that soon.
The dogs miss her terribly. Poor Little Bit hates to be without people for 5 minutes, let alone 5 nights. As I get ready for work, her eyes dialate and her dog tags start clinking because she shakes so hard from the anxiety.
Deb will probably be in the hospital for 4-7 days from the surgery. I suspect it will be on the longer end of that simply because it has taken 2 days just to get her pain under control. She still doesn't have bowel sounds and they aren't allowing her to eat or drink even water yet. (And I whined about my post-op hospital stay. At least I got water.) I also think that if the fever doesn't resolve itself, that may delay her coming home as well.
Considering all of that, she is holding up fairly well. Her color looks good and she is getting up and walking as much as she can. She's really looking forward to getting the NG tube out. And eating pizza. Someday hopefully soon.
Little Bit can stay with us when you are both gone at night. As you know we are dogless. Walt misses her so much he is not giving me flack about getting one in the spring. I hope Deb continues to progress. And you get through the challenge of school as well as your other responsibilities. Also let us know what we can do. I can drive now and progressing well with my knee.
ReplyDeleteDolores