Today is Feb. 25th, 2010 and we've been preparing for part 2 of JD's second surgery since December 2009. We spent Christmas week in the hospital for the 1st surgery to remove JD's colon and knew the 2nd surgery would take place 2-3 mths afterward, allowing time for the J-pouch to heal.
We had an early rise this morning. Waking up at 5:00 a.m. is for the birds! Nonetheless, we had to be up early this morning and to the hospital by 6:30 for check in and prep before his surgery. Surgery was scheduled to start around 9:30.
Prep for surgery was not JD's favorite thing due to issues with getting the IV situated before surgery. The anesthesiologist ended up having to get the IV in, and was successful on the first attempt. So shortly after that was completed, off to surgery he went. It was about 9:15 when i headed back to the waiting room where my mom & mother-in-law waited patiently trying to keep themselves preoccupied.
We were told about a 2-3 hour estimate on surgical completion, but to our surprise the surgery was over within 1.5 hours. He was in post-op for 1.5 hours and then given a private room.
For the most part, pain is significantly higher for surgery 2 than surgery 1 even though the 1st one took 3 times as long. He's very groggy, dozing in and out from time to time, which is probably best due to the pain. The highlight of his day so far has been the scratching assistance I give him on his calves. (He has to wear those leg warmer looking things that inflate to circulate the blood along with some support hose.) Between the pain meds and the "leg things" he's itching worse than a druggie. Guess my scratching assistance is enough to justify getting my nails done every two weeks LOL.
I made a quick trip home earlier to pick up my car since we all rode together in JD's mom's car. This gave me time to pack my clothes for the overnight stays. Unfortunately this room he's in now does not have a couch like the one did before in December, so i'll be sleeping in a recliner.
I'm really pleasantly surprised at the level of care we've received from the Doctors and nurses at Memorial Hermann Southeast. In the past, our prior care was never what i would expect it to be, however, we were at another hospital.
After 9 long years of enduring this "crap", no pun intended, I hope that he is able to get back to living well and enjoy life, doing what he loves: golf, riding his Harley, & shooting pool. He's been one hell of a trooper through it all and I couldn't have asked for a better spouse.
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