Dear Family and friends
When I came in today, Gary was sitting in
a chair and told me he had had a bad night last night -- he had vomited
and had to have the GI nasal tube put back in. He's dealing with Ileus
which is a type of bowel obstruction even though there is nothing
blocking them. This keeps him from digesting food and removing waste
from his body but seems to be quite normal with this surgery. He is
still allowed only 1 cup of ice each 8 hour shift, much to his
disappointment. He did do a lot of walking today -- quite a few laps as
well as pacing his room before I came and 6 laps while I was there and
then 2 laps later on. They also took x-rays again of the back of his
abdomen. Before I left this evening, they disconnected the GI nasal
tube although they left it in so that in case he still has trouble
tonight, they wouldn't have to reinsert it again.
Gary
mentioned that even though he has been in a lot of discomfort, the
tradeoff is, he noticed he hasn't had any insulin reactions. This is
the first time since the transplant that he's mentioned anything about
changes that he's noticed. Yesterday I noticed that his ankles had lost
their swelling and today I noticed that some of the swelling has left
his face although he's added a new version of swelling -- I may find out
what my husband looks like with a beard since his facial hair is really
growing, and at this point, he can't use a razor -- he even tried to do
some beard growth comparison with our friend who came to visit him
today.
I've decided that God's got a sense of humor. If I didn't
know better, I'd say that the transplant staff read my blog post of
frustration that I wrote last night. Gary told me this morning that two
student nurses came in yesterday afternoon after I had left, and they
told him that they would be meeting with us today and going over some of
the after transplantation care. Since I didn't write it until last night, it couldn't have been because they read it. I think God was telling me to be
patient, to trust Him, and that He would provide the information in His time
when I needed it not when I felt we needed it. Today was a great day of learning, although there is still much more to learn. We met those nurses that had been to his room yesterday afternoon and talked
with them, met with the transplant pharmacist and started learning about
the medications Gary will be taking when he comes home from the
hospital. We also talked with several of his residents and doctors.
His nurse was also very good about teaching him as she gave him his
medications and other information throughout the day as well. The Doctor in charge of the nursing staff also came by and talked with us for a bit and also asked about our experiences so I was able to We still have lots to learn,
but I do feel better then I did yesterday afternoon. The unit didn't
seem quite as busy today as it has been the past couple days. I'm
learning to be more specific with my questions and if I don't understand
something, I'm getting better at asking them to repeat what they've
said or to spell it if it's something I'm not familiar with so that I
can also look it up later on Web MD.
He was excited to tell me
that the nurse he had today might have a baby on his birthday. When she
came into Gary's room shortly after I arrived this morning, he said to her, "I
told my wife that 55 years ago my Mom was in the same shape as you."
For those of you who know Gary, that was not a surprising way for him to
phrase it, but she was a bit puzzled, so I explained that Gary was born
on the same date 55 years ago as her due date, May 8. It is nice
seeing some of his sense of humor coming back. He also said he had a
new "groenac" joke (think back to Johnny Carson's Carnac the Magnificent
or our church's Talent Show many years ago) -- the answer is: The home
of the LA Lakers, The home of the LA Kings, and Gary's abdomen. The
question is: Name three places called Staple Center.
Overall,
today was a better day then yesterday even with the minor setback. I
know there will be other frustrating times, but I'll have to remind my
self that everything in the Lord's time, that He is walking with us on
this journey -- patience and trusting Him, something I keep having to work on.
Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and prayers for Gary and for all of us. They are truly appreciated and felt.
Love,
Nelly and the rest of the Groenewold family
Let
us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may
receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews
4:16
No comments:
Post a Comment