Another Surgery

This is L coming to you from 5 South. I have been staying here with B since Tuesday, and I know that I can speak for both of us by saying that we are ready to bust out of here...prison break style. With all our downtime we have been plotting our escape route. I figured the fasted way out of here would be to throw a chair through the window, tie some bed sheets together, and lower both B and I onto the parking ramp, three floors below. I will then throw, rather place, B into the hatch and squeal outta here in the Forester. That is what you call wishful thinking...haha. Since the last update not much has changed. The entire team of Dr.'s are working hard to get B's pain managed. Unfortunately at this point B is still living with some significant pain. Don't get me wrong he has had some relief, however he is still experiencing some ridiculous pain attacks, bringing both of us to tears. The worst attack to date happened late Friday night. I have to say that I feel pretty bad for the second shift RN, who showed up just as the pain climbed through the roof.

B was yelling so loud on only the quietest floor in the hospital. Picture this, a quiet, serene place, where really sick people are trying to rest and recover. And now picture a screaming, cursing 29 year old, disrupting the whole vibe. I tried hard at first to quiet B down, but then I thought, what the hell, and joined in the misery. It was a free pass to swear out loud, even Nanc gave us permission and told us to let it all out. It was a real release, and I am very much looking forward to the next time I get a free pass to yell at the top of my lungs. As his RN said, everyone ends up feeling like crap, because we were all at the mercy of the pain, and the meds. Finally after 3 hours or so, B was back in bed and resting....phew what a blessing. And that night we both slept through the night.

So now it is Saturday and I am so nervous about B and the Spartans. We woke up feeling OK and pretty well rested. We were able to watch the game. And let me be the first to say that watching MSU in the hospital is not ideal for the following reasons:
1, The little TV--I mean the TV is so small that Kurt Cousins looked like Micheal Vick
2. No HD--meaning B lost a good portion of the hair he had just regrown pulling out his long locks
3, No surround sound--we have a dinky remote in which the sounds plays out of . You literally have to hold the remote to your ear to hear the game and Brent Musburger's last slurp of Cpt'n Coke is deafened by Herbstreit's end-of-game celebration.
And Lastly,
4. No YELLING--And for all of you that watched the game understand that yelling at the TV was a big part of the game. B kept telling me to sit down, to use indoor voices, and to use the golf clap. I mean come on, the golf clap! Needless to say the Spartans pulled off a victory that resulted in some heaving LMuttz sweating, and some serious stress. Not to mention B's vitals (including Blood Pressure) had to be monitored more closely during this game. But a W is a W......8- 0: 8- 0 baby! If we can do it again next week things will be looking pretty good for Team Sparty.

After the game B and I decided to take a cruise together to the cafeteria. I took him down in the wheel chair and he steered his IV pole. It was just nice getting B out of the room. We ended up spending 18 smakcers on just junk and sweets, plus 2 apples. The girls who cashed us out were laughing, but the way I look at it, B can have whatever he wants. So we returned to the floor and continued to walk around together for about 30 minutes or so. It was a nice change of pace, and I am just glad that I am able to be here with him. We later returned to the room where B decided he would like to stay in the wheelchair rather then get back in bed. Hindsight would have been great right about now, because by the time we decided to get B in bed his body was beyond functioning. He ended up slipping a little, and landed on his knees, pinning himself between the wheelchair and bed. The good news is that his head was resting on the bed, and he was not hurt, physically. I was not strong enough to get him up myself, so I ran into the hall and yelled for help. It took 4 of us ladies, but we got B back in bed. However by this time B's ego was seriously bruised, and both he and I were brought to tears. He and I are just sick and tired of him being sick and tired....literally.

We were both able to get a good nights sleep. There is nothing better for a sound sleep than a hard pre-bed cry, some kisses, and in B 's case some serious meds. Now it is Sunday and again B is feeling OK. He is prepping his fantasy team's and is looking forward to spending the day watching NFL games with his Lil' Bro and Juancho. I plan to take off for a bit this afternoon, and as B would say head home to shit, shower, and shave.

So tomorrow B is having his surgery. It is scheduled for 12:45. The actual surgery to place the intrathecal catheter takes about 2 hours, and then B will head to recovery for a few hours. He has to stay over night in the hospital so that they can keep an eye on him. He is also scheduled to have his MRI completed tonight when they pull out the epidural. The epidural has to come out 12 hours before the surgery. This gives the staff time to squeak out the MRI and give B a chance to shower B. He is not allowed to eat or drink after 12am, so he is planning a full day of calorie stacking and resting. The intrathecal catheter will be placed under the skin in the abdomen. Dr. # 15, who will be preforming the surgery, and who will be motoring the catheter, cautioned us that there is a risk this might not help with the pain. However up to this point nothing else has worked, so we are willing to give it a shot. Dr. # 15 said that the meds he plans to use are different then the meds they are using in the epidural. Due to FDA regulations and such, they are only allowed to use a few drugs in this new catheter. Dr. # 15 said it may take a few times of making adjustments before he gets the right med mix, so we have to be patient. He made some mention of use a south pacific snail poison with morphine, but hey, if it works, who cares. We just remain hopeful that this will work.

B also has his last radiation appointment tomorrow, and he is very much looking forward to that. I can't think of anything he hates more than the radiation table. Oh and B did have a CT scan late Friday night, and they were able to rule out any spread of disease in his right hip as a possible cause for pain. They still want to look at the spine, and that is why they have the MRI back on schedule for tonight.

I promise to update some time tomorrow night. I know things will be fine, but we ask for additional prayers tomorrow since there is always risk with any surgery. Much love and thanks again for all the support.