Friday--Going Home Tomorrow??

Harry had a pretty good day today--still much pain (Dilaudid helps.), but he was alert and animated when he had visitors. The rabbi from Chabad came to visit and taught him and our friend Barry all about t'filin (!) and told him some jokes. Russell is also here for the weekend and he made sure Harry was drinking a lot (which he needs to do). And Rabbi Clopper came in for a while this evening--while he's actually on vacation--so that was extra nice.

The doctor thinks that they may send him home tomorrow. We'll know more in the morning.

Thursday night--progress!

Harry is much better--sitting, standing walking. Still really tired. Still has pain. But much better. The nice nurse was there tonight, but she's off for a few days after today. Incentive to come home!

Thursday morning

I arrived at around 9 this morning to find the physical therapists moving Harry to a chair. He is still in pain and on morphine, but he seems better. Is able to sit. Dr. Mermelstein came in and took a drain out and did some function testing. (Lifting legs, etc.) Assured Harry that the pain is normal post-op pain and that they would have him walking today. At this point, Harry will probably be in the hospital till Saturday or Sunday, but we're taking it one day at a time.

We are so grateful for everyone for putting your thoughts and good wishes into the blog. We love you all.

Wednesday Night--More Progress

I arrived at the hospital and our friend Arnie was there visiting. Harry was positively animated. I brought him a protein shake and he was pleased to have met with the dietician who made sure he could have more protein. (Thanks, Jen!) He's still in a lot of pain, but seems to be managing better. The physical therapist even had him sitting up in a chair today (while I was at work). All the calls, posts, emails mean a lot to him. Thanks for all your encouragement.

Wednesday Morning--Progress

I arrive at the hospital around 7:30. I go up to the surgery unit, and there's his brace!

Harry is still in a great deal of pain, but an 8 instead of a 20 (on a scale of 1-10). So, improvement. Harry has color in his face. His roommate who arrived after I left last night is an elderly man named Henry--he had a knee replacement. Very chatty. Scarfing down breakfast and telling us his life story from behind the curtain. Harry can still barely talk and is sucking on ice chips. They bring him breakfast--pancakes, farina, coffee, orange juice. Our niece Jen who's a registered dietician had told him to eat a lot of proten after the surgery. This looks like the no-protein diet. Is that on purpose? No, this is today's breakfast.

The nurse admin on the floor--Maureen--seems competent so we talk to her about his diet and about all the mishaps. She is apologetic. She offers to have the hospital dietician meet with him and arranges for someone to bring him some hard-boiled eggs. And promises that their goal for today is to get him comfortable.

Pain

The good news: he's in his own room, on the 2nd floor, just across from the nurse's station. And the bad: there's so much pain. So much that I am nagging the nurses, so much that I want to give him his Percocet, but he can only have ice chips, so much that I want to scream like Shirley McClaine did in "Terms of Endearment," when they wouldn't give her daughter her pain meds. But you know me, I don't scream, I speak nicely. And again. And again. So the nurse comes in to give him extra medication and finds that there's a kink in the line! And he isn't getting any pain meds at all! She fixes that. She comes in again and discovers that the pumps for his stockings (on his legs to maintain circulation) aren't turned on. Duh!! And later we find that the nurses' station call button isn't turned on. After more extra pain meds, he finally fell asleep. I leave, with a question: Where is his back brace? He will need it when they get him up. We brought it with us to the hospital. They assure me that they will locate it.

Till tomorrow....I'll be there in the morning, before the shift change.

In Recovery

So finally the surgeon--exhausted--comes out and says it's over, it went well. Relief, happiness, wanting to see him and give him a hug. Finally the recovery room, Purell your hands first (it's comforting that they make everyone clean their hands), gently touch his hand, he's pale and you can see the pain etched on his face. The push button for the pain meds. The tube in his nose. Rest. Get well. Walk again.