Update #186

Ok, it's probably the 3rd or 4th update I've shared lately but it does feel like I've sent over a hundred to people via email, text, phone call, or through this blog. Today was a good day though and Jon is doing well. Here's a play-by-play of what happened the past few days and why I was stressing so much.

Wednesday 1:15pm: I walk back with Jon in the prep area before his surgery so he can change into one of those lovely gowns and get an IV started. His surgeon stops by (surgeons are not very personable by the way) and his anesthesiologist comes by to discuss his part in the surgery

Wednesday 2:50pm: Jon is taken back into surgery

Wednesday 4:45pm: The surgeon comes out and lets us know that the surgery went well. They were able to use Jon's actual tendon and not donor tissue from a cadaver. Jon's patella tendon actually ruptured in the middle and the surgeon was able to layer the top layer onto the bottom layer and weave them together again. He has two anchor points on the bottom of his knee that are holding the tendon onto his knee cap. They also did work with the tendons on both side his knee since they were damaged and they are also anchored onto the knee cap. They created a 6 inch incision down his knee and it's being held together with about 25 staples. I saw it today when I changed his dressing for the first time and it looks good (no infection).

Wednesday 6pm: We are called back to the recovery area because Jon is not feeling well. His surgery was designed to be same day....they wanted him discharged after an hour in recovery and taken home immediately. Jon had issues with anesthesia in the past too (feeling ill and nauseated afterwards). The nurses could not get his nausea under control and he was too light-headed and dizzy to get dressed or use crutches. After 7pm they decide it's best to admit him to Mercy Hospital (across the street) for a 23 hour observation. He's taken over by ambulance and I move the Jeep to the hospital parking lot.

Wednesday 7:45pm: Jon is admitted onto the Ortho floor and they keep giving him IV meds to try and make him feel less ill. Due to his nausea he's not given any pain meds. Fortunately he didn't feel hardly any pain that night because the anesthesiologist gave him a fermoral block (nerve block) after the surgery that's supposed to numb his leg for 18 hours.

The nurses are in continuously during the night for vitals and med administrations.

Thursday 8am: Jon is in horrible pain because the femoral block wore off quicker than anticipated. Since he wasn't given any pain meds the day before or during the night, he's not ahead of the pain and his really strong narcotics aren't working. Fortunately a doctor does allow for some morphine to be given and that cuts through the edge a little bit. Unfortunately right when it starts working, physical therapy shows up and makes him walk on his crutches since that's protocol that day after knee surgery. All the movement and handling of his leg cause the pain to sky-rocket again and he's even worse. Sadly they can't give him anything else for pain for hours since he's had a lot of narcotics already. He's a very miserable man. I understand the nurses cannot disobey doctor's orders but they were rather rude and not sympathetic at all. It was extremely disappointing.

Thursday early afternoon: A different doctor comes to check on his nausea from the night before and decides to order more morphine for him. That morphine was a godsend because it helped him calm down and get some sleep. He started making headway with his pain after that and in my opinion was "caught up" with his pain management. They did decide to keep him one more night though just to make sure he was in better shape for a discharge home. He did well overnight.

Friday morning: Physical therapy comes again and works with him on stairs to ensure he's using his crutches correctly. The walking and stair practice goes very well. They decide that he's more than ready to go home and he's discharged around noon. They change his pain meds again becuase they found something different that works better.

Friday early afternoon: I drove him home and his friend Dave met us here with his parents to help get him inside since he gets weak easily with his crutches. We got him into the house through the front door and got him settled. I took off for awhile to get Gavin and do some things in Ames. I returned later and spent the night with him since he has to get up every 3 hours for a dose of pain meds. I'm staying tonight too (Saturday) and tomorrow night (Sunday). I'll stay a few nights during the work week too but will take nights off of course since I don't need my parenting to suffer or work performance. I just hope the weather continues to hold out since the commmute could really become a pain if the roads are icy.

That's the low down. It was stressful and unpredictable but he's home now and settled. He goes back to the doc on Friday the 3rd. The main recovery is 6 months but I can tell he's going to succeed and make great progress.

I didn't really have a Thanksgiving. I did bop down to the hospital cafeteria Thursday night and got a couple scoops of stuffing since they were still serving Thanksgiving foods. Jon's mom brought leftovers from their meal so we have turkey, mashed potatoes, and other goodies to eat. I already ate the stuffing and some of the green bean casserole.

I hope you all had a good holiday and thanks for the support. It was actually lonely at times when he was sleeping or occupied so I appreciated the texts and phone calls.

I did a lot of thinking so I will have some profound lifestyle-based blog entries soon. It's amazing how much a person thinks about their health when they are staying at a hospital ha ha.

FYI...Mercy Hospital has a McDonald's in their facility! Sadly I did eat there Friday night since the cafeteria was closed but it shocks me that a fastfood joint is promoted at a hospital.