Mark came home from the hospital yesterday at 4:00 p.m. This picture is him still in the hospital, obviously because I don’t have IV’s and oxygen hooked up to him here at home.
It was shocking that they sent him home already as the doctor had previously said he would go home on the 22nd and now he was coming home on the 20th. He didn’t think he was ready – he had only walked part of his hallway one time on the 19th. He was nauseous and in incredible pain. He had cried when they moved him from the bed to the chair the first time on the 19th. The nurses told him he could stay all day yesterday – just because he was released didn’t mean he had to leave right that minute. They also said if he wasn’t up to it, he could stay another day or more. We decided that there was nothing they could do for him that I couldn’t do for him. We did stay the day so he could get in another session of physical therapy (this time he walked the whole block of his unit). He felt much better after that walk. They also had to give him two more IV bags of antibiotics. He slept most of the day – that’s really all he’s done for the whole four days so far is sleep.
Last night he slept on the sofa and I slept there with him. He had his pain meds every four hours and Keith called at 1:00 a.m. – his phone accidentally called us – so we stayed up from 1:00-3:00 watching tv and he had about 1/4 cup of homemade soup that Dad had made. Thanks Dad – it was his first real food in four days because he naturally has no appetite.
Today he will get a shower and I have to get to change his dressings (arghhhhh – weak stomach). I’ve already seen the incision on his back – that one doesn’t hurt him. The one on the front is where his pain is terrible – I can’t wait until the shower is over and he gets to settle back down. He doesn’t have any pain when he’s not moving. He took a little walk this morning already – around the house as we’re still in the midst of a lovely winter storm – and he said it felt good to walk.
Check back for more updates and for some of the most beautiful pictures of an ice storm I’ve ever seen – if there is such a thing as a beautiful ice storm. It is beautiful when you’re safe in your home and you know all of your family and friends are safe.