What a day

Today was pretty eventful...not in all good ways.

Dan's surgeons still feel that he is recovering beautifully. Poultsides even commented that Dan is in the 99th percentile of patients. His labs are improving steadily, except for that pesky hematocrit. As far as the things that the doctors are hoping to see, Dan has most of them. Yet, Dan still felt pretty crappy all day. The worst part was this strange fog that seemed to be clouding his brain. He would wake up, be alert for 15 minutes and then be exhausted and back to sleep again. This was not very helpful for doing the things he needed to do like walking and using his incentive spirometer. After discussing his grogginess with the surgeons, it seems like his liver just isn't clearing the narcotics as quickly as it should. As the day wore on, he became more and more lethargic, so he's now off the PCA and narcotics and valium...onto Toradol. The only concern with the new med is bleeding risk, so hopefully his H and H pick up tomorrow.

The next eventful thing was a visit from guest services to let me know that anything I post while on Stanford's wireless will be screened if it says something negative about the institution. A few days ago I wrote about one problem Dan and I have encountered: me staying with him overnight. The man from guest services wanted to know the full complaint and remind me that negative comments will be responded to. At the moment, Dan's surgeon has put in a request that I stay due to his mental status, the housekeeper is looking for a sleeper chair for me, a couple nurses just agree to let me hide out in the corner and now (this is exciting), Dan's next on the list for a private room! Having a private room would take away any problems with me staying over AND get me a cot. That would truly be nice. I'm not sure if/when any rooms will become available, but we're both hoping soon.

If anyone from Stanford is reading this, I want to express my gratitude for trying to make my husband's hospitalization as comfortable as possible. All of his nurses have been very skilled and intelligent and helpful. This is truly a wonderful hospital and in over 9 years of familiarity with Stanford, this is the first "bone to pick" I have encountered.

As for the last eventful moment, Dan's stomach finally decided that it was not happy with the amount of liquids and foods he had consumed. Accordingly, out of his groggy uncomfortable sleep, Dan awoke sweating profusely and emptying his stomach of it's contents. For a bit I panicked because I saw red coming out...then remembered the red Gatorade. The nurse came to the rescue with Zofran and was happy to see no green come up (bile). Incredibly, Dan came back to reality and said he felt a bit better. He could move better and breathe more deeply. We can't tell if the Toradol worked, if the Toradol made him sick or if his stomach was bloated and making his abdomen hurt. I suppose we'll find out in a few hours after his next dose of Toradol.

For now, it's nice to be able to talk to my husband clearly and have him smile a bit.

Prayer Requests:
* Pain management with the Toradol without side effects (bleeding, vomiting)
* Continued recovery without complications
* A working digestive system that allows Dan to eat (and keep it down)
* No soreness or injury from the vomiting episode
* Endurance and joy for Dan in the midst of suffering
* A private room soon
* Good news!