The biggest challenge last night and today is the pain medicine. He likes it to keep the pain at bay, but it makes his blood pressure quite low and his breathing shallow - both things that aren't great for recovery. You all know Todd so it will come as little surprise to know that he is the person that a few hours after surgery, decides not to push the pain button for four hours. :) Now part of that was due to being hesitant about how low his blood pressure was as well as how shallow his breathing was for a bit, even though the doctors said they could adjust it.
He had some breathing exercises to do last night so I had my alarm set to go off every 10 minutes for a few hours. It must have been comical to see the two of us dozing off quickly only to be woken by the alarm every 10 minutes. Needless to say, it was not a quiet evening.
At 7am this morning, the surgeon's main attending made his rounds with his group of eager students. All good news from him and they are so pleased with how well Todd is progressing that they took out the first of many tubes he has attached to him.
This was the first of many milestones today.
Around 9am they moved him into a chair for a brief bit. About noon they decreased his pain medicine, which makes such a huge difference in his appearance, blood pressure, interactions and pain. About an hour ago he made his first walk around the Christmas tree, which is a full loop of the floor and includes passing by a tree they have decorated for the holidays. The nurse was quite impressed.
He says I've been a great cheerleader - that I didn't complain once last night. I told him it's easy to be cheering on such a willing and motivated patient.
Thanks for a heads up on the blog. I read the whole thing. Wish I was there to hold your hand and give you a hug. And to see Todd be the strong man he has always been. How lucky he is to have you as his life partner...only a Cappy would hit the snooze all night long and not complain. I know you are doing your best. I pictured Todd walking around the Christmas tree and it makes me happy. Get some rest Stephie. Love to you both from Denver....Xtine.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the update Steph,
ReplyDeleteYou two are both troopers! Extraordinary! Just don't let the marine start running laps around the Christmas tree or doing push-ups or crunches to try to block out the pain. Ya here that Todd! Listen to your wife and your doctor...
Ha, sounds great though. Glad to hear the speedy recovery is under way.
Just chatching up on the past few updates and great to see that all went/is going smoothly! Both of you take it one day at a time and get some rest among the chaos of the hospital. -Heather Sisk
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