Mark is doing well after his surgery.  He is walking very slowly.  He is supposed to walk no more than two blocks per day.  If he were to walk our block, since we live in the country, he would be walking 4.5 miles per block, so nine miles per day, just for reference.  He is also not to lift anything over 5-8 lbs., which is making him crazy because he wants to be useful and he feels helpless.  That’s frustrating but I tell him there’s a reward in the end (good health!).  He gets his stitches out on January 9 and that will provide some relief as the stitches are pulling and creating more discomfort in his back (back incision is stitched and is five inches long).  His front incision is glued and healing beautifully (seven inches long).

Our weather has been beautiful (relatively speaking, for winter – it’s been in the thirties to fifties) so we’ve been able to walk outside.  Today it is snow again and heavy wind and will be in the twenties or lower for at least the next week, so he’ll be walking in the house again for now.

December 21, 2008

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.

December 18, 2008

9:37 a.m. – Here’s a little background……..Mark had two bad discs in his back.  The plan was for a surgeon to open him up, move things (like his intestines, ureter, etc.) out of the way, and for the orthopedic surgeon to then go in and fix Mark’s discs – to put artificial spacers in.  They would then close him up and roll him over and open his back up to fix what was wrong in the back – removing part of a damaged disc (I’m sure there’s a better explanation but that’s as medical as I get – medicine is not my forte).

The surgeon, Dr. Thomas, came out first and told us that his part of the surgery was complete and that it went perfect, that Mark is in great health and everything went textbook, exactly as it should have.  He said that they had closed the incision and they were now going to roll him over and go in through his back.  Dr. Thomas was the “move things out of the way” surgeon and Dr. DeLeeuw was our orthopedic surgeon. Dr. DeLeeuw then did his thing on Mark’s back and when he came out to see us, he used the same word – it went “perfect”.  I’m not and have never been keen on the word “perfect” but it sure sounded good today, especially hearing both surgeons use that word.

You can’t ask for anything more than that.  I’m still sitting in the waiting room with Keith and Mom.  Mark is still in recovery and I should get to see him in about 1/2 hour or so.  I had some weak moments just because yesterday Mark admitted that he was afraid.  I didn’t cry – I held it together with Keith’s help.  Mark said he didn’t sleep two nights before surgery because he was worrying.  He was afraid they were going to take parts out of him to get them out of the way.  Before surgery he was re-assured by one of the nurses that is not what they would be doing – they would just move things aside and clamp him open – nothing would be removed.  He then felt better going into surgery (I think).

Surgery was supposed to take 2 1/2-3 hours and it actually took three hours.  Yep – more perfection – right on target.  Now we are hopeful that all goes well in recovery and during the rest of his days in the hospital.  Dr. DeLeeuw said he would go home Monday but we’re hoping he progresses well and comes home earlier than that.  We’ll see and we don’t want to rush his recovery.  I’ll update this post when I can.  Thanks to our friends and family for your thoughts and well-wishes.  We are richly blessed and we know it.

7:24 p.m. – Keith and I came home and Keith is now on his way back to West Lafayette.  I made Keith some oatmeal cookies and we had leftovers for dinner.  Mark is sleeping mostly – we came home so he could rest and so Keith could get back home to West Lafayette.  It was a brutal surgery and Mark said it feels like he has been kicked in the stomach.  The pain in his front incision area is very bad – his back incision is not bad pain-wise.  He’s on a morphine pain pump but he’s trying not to use it much.  That’s Mark – he doesn’t like meds – go Mark!  St. Joseph Hospital in South Bend is wonderful – from the lady who checked us in to all of the nurses, aides and doctors.  I don’t remember the anesthesiologist’s name, but she was wonderful also.  Our check-in nurse was Thom – awesome.  The surgery nurse was Rick – he briefed us before surgery and called periodically during surgery – from the operating room – to give us updates.  The recovery nurse was a sweetheart but I didn’t notice her name.  I’m just trying to document things so Mark can look back when this is all over as he probably won’t remember much.

9:15 p.m. – I called Mark.  He sat up in a chair but has bad nausea.  They gave him a shot for the nausea and he’s back in bed.  He’s still not eating but that’s o.k.  He was trying to down a cracker when I called him.  He said he told the nurse that I had a hysterectomy and he feels so sorry for me because of the pain he’s now in.  She told him that his pain is equal to a hysterectomy and that we are both troupers (my hysterectomy was in 1992 so I’m pretty much o.k. now though – LOL).  I think his pain is probably worse than mine was because he is cut front and back.  She also told him that tomorrow will be a much better day.  They are taking great care of him.