10-31-2010 Post-op

Must have taken a 20 minute nap. Either the doctor or the girls with the McDonald's bags woke me? I don't eat this stuff but I can smell it.

The doc said Fred tolerated the procedure very well. He will be back in his room in about 30 minutes, very, very sleepy and once again, on the respirator. They will remove the tube and get him off the machine this evening or in the morning. This morning I told his doc I was at one time a practicing RN so he got into a little more detail with me. Really, Fred is lucky he is here, something helped him stick around, for sure. His abdomen was a mess. There still is some inflammation and swelling but this should be taken care of with time and antibiotics. All of his "mesh" and dressings were changed in the OR. The incision site was closed down to maybe a third or a quarter the size. The site is still "open" with a suction type drain attached. The goal now is to get Fred up and regaining his strength, out of the ICU and into the rehab unit here at Beaumont. The sooner the better on this but no time frame. I would guess if he works at it maybe a week? Eventually all the "mesh" drains and various healing tools will be removed. The doc told me that theoretically the illiiostomy can be reversed but he doubts that will happen. Given his age and all the complications plus new knowledge about ostomy care he'll probably have it this way, always.

Sometime in the last few days someone mentioned a heart attack? Fred did have a moderate attack during the initial surgery, understandable given the massive blood loss. I'm not sure if Fred is aware of this, for now I'll not mention it. When he is a little stronger we can discuss it.

The road to recovery looks like a very long one. A guess? I would say six months. Let's hope the most difficult part of all of this is behind us and he can tolerate all the work ahead.
love to you all, Chuck
By the way, I am going to take off as soon as Fred is settled in. I'll be at Harriet and Paul's also have the cell phone on and with me should anyone want to call.