Day #22- Adult ICU (And the Answer Is...)

We'll skip the depressing reflection segment this morning and get right on with the day.

My wife wanted me back early this morning, so I knew I needed to try and get to sleep a little earlier. So much for that. I didn't leave her room until almost 1am, and then I had to go and put away all my clean clothes and remake my bed (I had taken all the sheets and washed them). By the time all was said and done (and I didn't turn on my computer or TV) it was almost 2am again. I guess that is just the time I will be going to bed. I can't seem to beat that time regardless of my best intentions.

When the alarm went off at 6:15am this morning, I didn't hit snooze or anything. I got up, got showered and dressed and headed out. I was here by 7am giving my wife her good morning kiss. She had been able to get two of the six cups down for her CT scan by the time I arrived...I knew my amazing wife could do it.

Taken on 6-13-11. Good to see your smile!

 She got the drinks down and went down to have her CT scan. While she was gone I apparently feel asleep because when they came back her wheel chair hit the door to open it and I about jumped out of my skin. lol.

She went straight into her physical therapy session. She did 6 laps around the Adult-ICU block. I thought she only did four, but I guess I was still sleeping through some of it. After her last lap she settled in and I read out loud to her again. We both cried... again! Seriously, what is up with this book. It is so good, but annoying me because of the high emotion of it all. There was an amazing quote in there though. In the book, a sister's house burns down and she has to let the ward help her. The other sister helping her tells her not to be overwhelmed by all the out pouring of love and support even though it feels like a debt in heaven. She told her that before too long, she will be asked to help someone else and that debt will be repaid. She called it the "economy of heaven".  I thought that was a great way to look at it. Our goal for our family this year was to provide more service. I just didn't think that we would be the one's allowing others to provide it! We thought it would be US doing the service... funny how things can be turned around on you.

I LOVE YOU BABE!!!!

I headed up to lunch while my wife rested. She had said her sisters Cassy and Jennie would be here around noon and I wanted to be done eating. I had just purchased my food and was sitting down when Cassy called and said she was here. I just laughed. I thought it was pretty funny. I told her how to get to the Adult-ICU waiting room and where my wife's room was. I ate my lunch and returned to find Cassy visiting with my wife.

Because her sisters brought their children, they had planned to take turns visiting so one could watch the kids, but my wife was a real trooper and walked out to the waiting room and sat in a wheel chair so she could visit with both of them together. It was nice to sit and visit and enjoy lots of kids being crazy and having fun. In fact, I took the three older kids up to the cafeteria and bought them treats to eat. It was a pleasure to be "Uncle John" for a bit.

Looking SO much better!

My wife got tired after a while and I could tell she needed to return to her room and lay down. So, I helped her get back to the room (Cassy helped as well). We got her settled in and then her sisters decided to go and feed their kids. While they were gone we just resumed chilling. They ended up coming back and Jennie came in to visit for a few minutes. While she was here Dr. Lichti made his rounds. He came in and told us that her scan looked pretty good, that the one little problem was a pocket of air (we can't remember if this is correct) in her incision, but that her abdomen was clean. He also said that her drains could come out. He told us that we (Jennie and I) may want to leave if we get queasy. I really thought about stepping out, but I knew I needed to be there for my wife. She had me hold her hand while they took out all five drains. She said that it didn't hurt, but just felt really, really, weird. I couldn't believe how much tubing she had inside of her. One of the drains was probably 2 feet long INSIDE of her. I thought maybe Dr. Lichti was performing a magic trick.

After all the drains were out, he told us that she would be going to the main floor tomorrow, that he was putting her on solid foods, and that he hoped to have us home by the weekend. That last one floored us a little bit. I guess we will see how it all works out. Her sisters had to leave shortly after Dr. Lichti left.

My wife was getting excited because her baby was going to be in her arms soon. My sister-in-law was waiting out on the patio with her. In fact, I had to run up and hold her while my wife came behind because my niece had a dr. appointment across the street. I enjoyed those few brief moments with my little one. She is so sweet, and beautiful, and perfect. I loved looking at her sweet little face and enjoying having her look back. My wife made it out on to the patio, got sat down, and I had the pleasure of setting her baby in her arms. As my wife talked to her, my little girl simply opened her eyes wide and looked in to my wife's eyes. My wife asked her if she remembered her (that part made my heart break...) and my little one continued to look into her eyes. It was a special moment and I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it.

She was able to be with, hold, feed, burp, snuggle, talk to, and enjoy her sweet little one for about 2 1/2 hours. It was wonderful to simply sit and let her enjoy it all. While she was with Shlisa and Michaela, I excused myself and went to pay my Guest House bill. Funny story there. I got all the way down to the registrar to pay and realized that I had left the money I needed to pay with in my bag in my wife's room. So, I got some extra exercise (I have started using the stairs...YEA ME!) and came back up to the room, got, what I needed and then back to pay. What should have taken 10 minutes ended up taking almost 30 minutes. But that is okay. I just can't say enough good things about our experience here.

All too soon, it was time to send our little girl back to Green River with Aunt Shlisa, and it was time for my wife to lay down. My wife handled the whole thing really, really well and I was proud of her for that. After we returned to her room, we (the nurse and I) got her settled in and comfortable. I then headed out for dinner with Mr. Z. He treated me to Carrabbas. It was good eats. I also really enjoyed the good conversation and humor. After dinner we went to get frozen yogurt. We also stopped by Seagull Book. I finally broke down and bought Popcorn Bopping.  I have been thinking about this for a couple months. When I shared the link with my wife to see what she thought my 3 year-old LOVED it and wanted her to keep playing them. I hope they like it. I know I love it.

After I returned from my adventure with Mr. Z, I just had time to sit down and talk to my wife for a moment before our good friends Roger and Kelly Perry stopped by. It was so nice to see them again. We hadn't seen Roger for almost 6 years, so it was nice to visit with him. It was also excellent to have Kelly back to visit. It had been a while since we had seen her around. They stayed until around 10:15pm. It was sure a nice time to catch up and share the current updates about my wife, our kids, and their family.

Now they are gone I guess I should end this HUGE posting and head to bed. I am very, very tired. However, I am excited to share the pictures and the good news. I am hoping that before we know it, we will being blogging from home and talking about our kids again.

Have a wonderful night blogland...

Goodnight

(Later...)