Tim's Surgery

Tim had spinal surgery on May 17th.

The day of surgery: Tim's parents and I sat in the waiting room for 7.5 hours. My sister drives the baby to the hospital to me twice so I can nurse him. It was great to see the surgeons tell us that they feel the surgery will be a success.

Day One: In ICU. Chest tube in his side used for draining fluids from the surgery site is causing Tim EXTREME pain. It is so hard to see him suffer. I feel so helpless. He has large amounts of fluids coming out from the tube and the doctor's are concerned they may need to reopen the incision and see what is going on. I pray to God that this is not the case. I don't know if he can bare it. He is doing better by noon time. By evening the rages of pain are very difficult to watch. The doctor gives him some extra pain medication and some shots into his shoulder, which seems to be the most painful area for him right now. I have such a hard time leaving him, but I must go nurse the baby. Thank God for his Mom being there, almost on a constant basis. I have to just give this guilty feeling to God.

Day Two: This morning is just as bad as last night. His heart rate is up to 165. He is having a hard time breathing. The doctor's decide it would just be better to remove the chest tube since it seems to be the main cause of pain. Once the tube is removed (you can imagine that was not easy for him) he feels much better. The doctor says it probably removed 75% of his pain. Now he just has to deal with nausea and lightheadedness. He takes a 50 foot walk today. That seemed like it would be impossible the day before.

Day Three: He did not sleep much last night. He has been coughing and says it feels like the incision is being ripped open each time. OUCH! He is so tough and ends up doing a 450 foot lap around the ICU. Later in the day he walks down to the first floor for a catscan. He is making progress, slowly but surely. He is still in a lot of pain, but nowhere near what the first two days were like.

Day Four: He is still in ICU. His Mom said he slept pretty well last night. She is his constant night companion. She is also the person he seems to deal best with. I know I love having my Mom around when I don't feel well. I tell him how much the children miss him. He does 2 laps around the ICU this time. Awesome! He is doing a lot better. He should be getting out of ICU today. I am so exhausted, mentally drained, and miss the kids beyond words, so I am going to stay the evening with the kids tonight. We are having Grandmom's yummy chili for dinner. Tim's Dad will keep him company. I am not having as much issues with guilt as I did the first couple of days. I can't be any good to anyone if I am this tired. I need to have some time to recollect. Hopefully he will sleep well tonight. (change of plans: later at night he was moved to the main floor so the kids got to go visit Daddy. It was so cute to see Zack light up at the sight of Tim. He has been saying da-da since 4.5 months, he's 5.5 months old now, and said "Dad-Dad-Dad" with his huge grin when he saw his Daddy. We had no idea that he knew what that meant. I know, genius, right?!? Modesty has never been my strong suit.)