A Real Peroneal Pain

Today marks day numero quatro in the penthouse at Beaumont Hospital. I say the penthouse because B and I have been living out of the 9th floor in the south tower for the past few days. The hospital is pretty great, and for the most part the staff have been wonderful. Our favorites are Holly, B's day shift RN, and Lisa, B's night shift RN. I have stayed here at the hosptial every night so far, on the luxury pull out couch, and have been on call to help out at night. B feels more comfortable having me here, and I guess you could say I feel the same. I hate sleeping alone. Even though we are in separate beds, I still feel like we are sleeping together.

B went into surgery on Wednesday for a new hip, and a chance at regaining some independent mobility. The surgery lasted about 3 hours. We had a whole team of support here and tons of games to pass the time. Big D and Nanc came in and I was glad to have them here. Big D and Nanc showed up in true form, with a packed lunch for everyone to share. After getting B off and into surgery we all settled at a table in the surgery waiting room. The Homrich clan got into a heated battle of rummy....I am not sure who officially won but there was some cheating that went on.....you know who you are (Nanc). We waited for what seemed like an eternity and then Dr. Les appeared. She reported that the surgery was a success and that B had a whole new hip and then some. They had to put in a cage to replace the socket. The tumor had done a number on the ball and socket joint, but Dr. Les said that they got all of the cancer out. She said that the tumor looked to be alive, which is what we thought, but not what we hoped. That means that the radiation did not work, and that is the reason the cancer spread locally in the hip. However since the tumor was very much still alive they will be able to run all the necessary tests to ensure that B is receiving the most targeted therapy to kicks this cancer's ass the hell out of B's body. The results should be in in the next few days so we are a bit anxious to say the least.

And I know that you all are wondering about B and his new mobility. Well unfortunately there has not been much walking. B has a new hip but also a new pain, which showed up post surgery. He has a terrible pain in his right calf. Actually as they were rolling him out of the OR and into the recovery room he was already yelling about the calf. B later appeared again on the 9th floor wrapped up like a mummy yelling "L, I need you to rub my calf", and mind you he still had a ton of drugs in his system. The Dr's think it is due to the way they positioned him on the OR table, however it is so bad that B is not getting around too well. He has taken a few steps here and there, but I guess we both thought he would be doing better by now. If it weren't for the pain in the calf he would be walking and there would be talk of discharge. This right calf of his is really holding up the show! They also mentioned something along the line of stretching the peroneal nerve during the operation. The only cure for a stretched nerve is nothing.....you just need to give you body time to heal. B seems a bit discouraged and wants nothing more to get out of here and to get to his Tuesday class, so that is our goal for now. He has a pretty good battle scar and has had a few blood transfusions due to low hemoglobin, but he is hanging in there. We are just taking one day at a time at this point. No news as to when B is expected to be discharged, but as soon as we find out we will let you all know.

On the upside of things, B had been on quite a dose of meds. And these meds have led to some pretty interesting conversation with both me and D Bone. I think the funniest to date goes something like this....image B in his hospital bed, holding onto his lung spirometer, drifting in and out of consciousness, all while trying to have a conversation with D Bone and I. Both D Bone and I thought that B was finally out, when he suddenly came to life again and said " D Bone when are you going to get your baby bottle tattoo?" We could not help but laugh, however B did not find much humor in this. I think both D Bone and I want some of those drugs...hahahah!

We have had great support here in the hospital and from afar too. Thanks to all of those who have visited and to all of those who have sent prayers, love, and gifts.I will try again to update soon, and I hope that I have better news to report. We still got this, but it might take a little longer to get where we are going. Thanks again for following the blog.
Love,
L and B