Wishing For a Fart!

David continues to make steady progress.  His mobility is excellent (he can walk a mile!) & his pain is more manageable now.  His abdominal incision looks good; however, the incision on his upper thigh where they used a vein for a graft looks a bit angry (it is not infected, but does have a big fluid pocket present).  His vital signs are perfect (he has been discontinued from telemetry), his blood sugars continue to be in an acceptable range so he hasn't needed any insulin for several days, & the rest of his lab work, including his liver enzymes, look good.  Now we are just waiting for his bodily functions to wake up!  Because of the vascular work that was done during surgery, the nerves associated with these vessels were also disrupted, & these are the nerves that supply much of his gut.  Unfortunately, his bladder catheter had to be put back in because his bladder doesn't want to empty.  And, we are waiting for him to pass some gas (is this over sharing?) so his diet can be advanced from a clear liquid, no carb diet.  Once he can pass gas, his diet will be upgraded & they will begin to clamp the tube in his stomach, which is draining most everything he eats or drinks into an exterior bag, to see how his gastrointestinal tract tolerates & moves food through.  They will begin with short periods of time with the gastrostomy tube clamped and as he tolerates, increase the time that the tube is clamped until his body demonstrates that the tube can be removed.  Overall his spirits have remained very good throughout this process (his strength of character amazes me!), but he is definitely growing tired of the hospital routine.  Sharree Hager (RN) leaves us tomorrow, but we both feel ready to fly solo for a bit.  She has been a Godsend in so many ways & will be truly missed.  Our household has been well fed during David's hospitalization through the kindness of the Master's Swim Group at the YMCA where David is a member.  In this season of Thanksgiving, we have so many things for which we are thankful.  I will continue to update the blog as my schedule allows, but I am hoping that David will be home in three or four more days. 

Fight the fight to be a survivor!!!  Hugs, Janet