Day #6- ICU

Update to Day #5- Surgery: She went in to surgery at 3:00ish pm. She was in surgery for two plus hours. Dr. Lichety came out after the surgery and explained that everything had gone well. He did explain that he had found and removed two more pockets of abscesses, one by her liver and one lower in her abdomen. She then spent the night and part of the today recovering from that. One special moment happened while they were taking my wife to surgery. My oldest daughter had come with my parents to see me (thanks for bringing her. I need to see my babies). When they wheeled my wife by on her bed, the anesthesiologist stopped the bed and asked her if this was her mommy. My daughter nodded yes. He had her come over and tell her she loved her and my wife was able to have human contact with one of her babies. It was a very special moment. My parents took me to my aunt's house in Alpine so I could pay my monthly bills and we had dinner there as well. Then we returned home (a.k.a. Hospital) so I could be with my wife again. I ended up going to bed around 3am. After her surgery she didn't do very good. Her temperature was really high, her blood pressure was low, her heart rate was also very high, and she was breathing way too fast. Even though I was able to chat with four good friends on-line, I left feeling very down and depressed about how things were going.

Day #6- So what happens when a person hit the lifetime maximum on the health insurance? This question has been bugging me now for a couple days. I know I need not worry, for even if I have to give up my house and car, I just want a healthy and happy wife. So that isn't the problem- but it continues to plague my mind. I would be crazy to not think that we will hit $1,000,000 mark with this adventure. Two weeks minimum of ICU and then up to 3 weeks in recovery mode. Anyways...

After not going to bed until after 3am, I didn't awake until almost 9am. I was a little frustrated with myself, but I also realized that it was not a sin. The nurse would have called me if there had been any major problems. I decided it was going to be okay. I showered, got dressed, and headed over. Jayna was the nurse on duty this morning. She gave me the morning report. Everything was looking much better. Her temp was still a little concerning as it was a little high AND the cooling blanket was still running.

My sister and her husband showed up around 10am. What a great day it was to spend with them. They spoiled me at Wal-mart and took me to lunch. We ate at In-n-Out. That was mighty tasty. (Thanks for that!) When we got back, my wife's sister and her husband came to visit. When they left, it was time to head to over to the guest house because I can't be here in the ICU from 5-7. I took another shower and then rested for about 2 hours. I awoke to my phone ringing which frightened me a little. I was very pleased to see the name "Mr. Z" on the caller I.D. (okay, it actually said his whole name). He offered to take me to ComdeySportz for a couple hour improv show. It was a hard decision, but I had never met him and I really needed to a fun activity to help get me out my emotional funk. So I agreed to let him pick me up and I went. Talk about 2 hours of fun and laughter. Man that was great. He dropped me off between the shows. I had fun meeting and talking with Mr. Z for the few minutes that we had.

When I got back the the ICU, everything was looking even better than before. Joe is her nurse tonight and she is so fun and funny to be around. I can't say enough good things about the staff here. They have been helpful, pleasant, and thoughtful of not only my wife, but me as well. They are always asking if I need anything, explaining what they are doing, and such.  Anyways, her temp is WAY down (in fact she is now cold...36.6 degrees cel.) and she is resting. I talked with my sis-in-law in PA for over two hours tonight on Skype. Cool program, I must say.

Tomorrow will be another rest day for her. Her next surgery will be on Monday morning at 7:30am. Then Wednesday, and then hopefully they can close her on Friday. I really hope it all goes well so that we can move on and be done with the ICU portion of this adventure.

Well, it is late (2:10am) and time for me to head over to the guest house and rest. Some friends have invited me over to dinner tomorrow. I am also going to do my laundry while I am there. What a blessing good friends are.

Thanks for all the thoughts, prayers, calls, notes, etc. We will never be able to repay everyone, but we will love you forever!

Later...