Tonight I am sitting on the couch by myself while Rob is in the hospital by himself and I would do anything to have him home. As I prayed with Isaac at bed time I was praying for Daddy and I started crying. Isaac looked at me and asked why I was crying and I told him it is because I miss Daddy. He said he missed him too and came to the end of the bed and hugged me. What a sweet sensitive boy! Even after spending the day with Rob not having my family all under the same roof feels wrong. Go give your family hugs and don't take for granted the great things you have!
So last update Rob was still asleep and I am happy to say he is awake now. On Saturday morning they started to take him off the drug they were using to keep him sedated. It didn't take long for him to wake up and he started asking the nurse questions right away (the first one was where is my wife?). I arrived shortly after and was greeted by his groggy smiling face. I was able to explain to him that it was a day later, why they kept him asleep and how the surgery went. At 9am the doctors were doing their rounds and the plan was to take out the breathing tube. So with about 10 people in the room watching they took the breathing tube out of Rob's nose and allowed him to breath. The concern was there would be too much swelling and his airway would close in but he had no problems at all. He didn't even need any extra oxygen because his O2 saturations were 100%. He was told that even though he was able to talk now that he should try not to talk much for about a week. Within a few hours of getting the tube out they started feeding him through the NG tube and mid afternoon he was moved up to a regular ward. Rob's short stay in ICU was as good as it could be. The nurses there are very good at what they do and they treated him so well even when he was sedated. We are very thankful that the ICU was willing to take care of Rob (his case is not typical care for ICU) because this allowed him to avoid a tracheostomy.
The last few days have been spent settling into the ward. Rob is in a double room but has the window side so we have enjoyed a few beautiful sunsets in the evening. His roommate is an older woman which I always find weird but she is lovely and so is her family so we are thankful for that. We were even able to go to the lounge at the end of the hall on Sunday night and have a "date night" watching the Amazing Race Canada finale....it's the little things like this that make the hospital stay tolerable!
The doctors have been in to see Rob each day and at this point he just needs to let things heal. They need to make sure everything is drained out and that there is no risk for infection. The goal is to get radiation started ASAP and an infection would hold this up so they are being very cautious. Rob has had a slight fever the last few days and they are just keeping a close eye on it. At this point speech language pathology will see him Friday and do a swallowing assessment. After his last surgery he had a hard time swallowing so we are praying this isn't an issue this time and that he can come home on a pureed diet without the NG tube. The suture in his mouth is looking good and there is no leakage so after a few more days like this he will be able to try things orally. We had hoped that maybe he would get to come home before the weekend but it is looking like early next week he will be home. We have 4 nights done so hopefully by this time next week we will all be under the same roof again. I have had a lot of people ask me how Rob's pain is and the answer is he doesn't have much. From the time they woke him up on Saturday he hasn't needed any pain meds aside from tylenol for a headache. He is uncomfortable because of the tubes and drain but is not in pain...Praise the Lord!!
Isaac has done very well this time so far. He asks every day to go to the hospital and see Rob. I asked him what he like about going to see daddy and he said playing angry birds (his favourite game) but also giving Daddy lots of hugs and kisses. We have managed to have a little visit with all of us everyday so far and we will continue to do this and enjoy a few minutes together.
Day by day God is walking with us and giving us the strenght we need....we cannot bare this alone so we are thankful He is with us.
Love Karen
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