The Dackel Princess

I got the call early this morning.
“Come get me!”
I jumped in the shower, dressed and was out the door in a split second!
He is very weak, very tired and still in a lot of pain, but he is so happy to be home!
He does have a small infection in the incision of his knee. So they put him on antibiotics. His temperature was normal last night and this morning, but he wasn’t in the house an hour before he spiked a 101.7 fever. I’ve gotten it down to 101.1 with the acetaminophen in the Vicodan, but I am watching him like a hawk.
Mostly, he wants to sleep. So I put the doggy gate in the guest room door, so I can hear him and yet the two dogs can’t go in and attack him with “love”!
They both went crazy when they saw Hubby. I had pulled the car into the garage, and come up and put Fritz outside and Greta in her crate. Then I helped Hubby up the stairs into the house. He sat down with the walker in front of him. Then I opened the door and the crate and all doggy heck broke loose!
It really is wonderful to have him home and hopefully this little infection will disappear with the antibiotics. The visiting nurse should be by tomorrow and then we will get on her schedule for the next couple of weeks.

The pathology report came back on Hubby’s cysts. It’s great news. All was benign!!! Yahoo!!!
Of all the things I worried about, this was probably the one thing I feared the most. I spoke to him last night and I was feeling very positive about his coming home, but he felt so tired, he was feeling like they might want to keep him another day. I just bet he gets sprung today!
Meanwhile, I need to finish up with the work around here that I should have done last night, but blew off in favor of just vegetating in my chair in front of the fireplace. Oh my, it felt so good to be home!

I’m home. Thank goodness. I was starting to go just a little crazy over there. Unfortunately Hubby was running a temperature today and the doctor didn’t want to send him home. Hubby was very disappointed. Me too. However, I came back myself, went to the Post Office and got our mail, went grocery shopping, and have gotten beds made and the throw rugs pulled up. Everything is ready for his return.
About three, Hubby’s fever broke! Good news!!! So, I am thinking tomorrow I will be able to bring him home. Yay Team!!!
I’m planning another early night, so I can catch up on my rest. But soon, my sweetie will be home and life won’t be quite so tough. (Right?)

Talk about a boring day. Where is the controversy? Where is the ineptitude that would cause me to rant and rave? Where is something for me to just plain complain about?
Hubby has been sleeping most of the day. He has had brief periods of wakefulness where they torture him with physical therapy, and then they give him the pain medications and off to sleep he goes!
I have called everyone I can think of, I have written several letters, I have crocheted until my fingers ached and watched my share of TV.
Yes, I am bored.
I thought about going out into the hall and pretending to have a broken leg. However, I decided that this probably wasn’t a good thing to do as one flight down is the psych unit.
I thought I’d go out and shop and spend a lot of money that I don’t have, but the thought of the credit card bills coming in at the end of the month left me feeling quite nauseated.
So I sat staring out the window, watching the snow melt. Now there is a real thrilling thing to do.
I’m actually only staying until 5 tonight as there is a tropical tasting party over at the food co-op. I thought that instead of having a formal dinner, I would simply go over there and graze.
After that I plan an evening of TV, sleep and more sleep before I hopefully bring Hubby home tomorrow.
His doctor hasn’t shown up yet, but everyone seems to think he will be going home tomorrow. Oh please, oh please! I want to go home.
I’m just not sure I could face another boring day!

******************
The doctor was late, so I missed being able to graze at the co-op. Shucks! And he says that the chances of Hubby actually coming home tomorrow are not very good. I, however, am going to go home with the doggies and prepare for the “Master’s” return!
Boy, am I tired!

I talked to Hubby about 7:45 last night and he was in terrible pain. I encouraged him to call the nurse and ask for two pain pills. Then I decided that I needed to lie down and sleep. So I did. I slept until 10, woke, walked the dogs and then came back in, checked my e-mail and then went back to sleep. I slept until 2, when Greta woke me up. Time to commune with nature. So we went for a nice middle of the night walk with Fritz. (He may be a wuss, but he is big and I feel safe with him!).
I came in and called the nurse’s station to see how Hubby had done during the evening. The pain pills hadn’t gotten the pain under control, so they had to call the doctor to get a different medication prescribed. I guess he also had a lot of additional swelling, so they have iced the knee. And his blood sugar is sky high, (260) so they have given him more insulin. Both regular and long acting. They have called for a diabetic consult.
Once I have had breakfast I will go right in. He seems to do better when I am there. Maybe because I don’t let the pain get too bad before I tell the nurses to bring him some meds. I’d go now, but I think we both need more sleep.
It’s supposed to be a really warm day today. This is good for the two dogs who sit so patiently in the car. I try to make it out to them every three hours. We walk, they drink and then I go back in, but I think the whole thing has been very hard on them. For the next knee operation I think I will have my neighbor take care of them. Greta won’t be in heat, and it will be better for them, and for me.
Okay, a little tea and then some more sleep.

I got called at 7:15 by Hubby who was very upset and wanted me to come right away. He was hungry and tired and when he rang for help from the nurses no one came. So off I went to the rescue!
I arrived and I went in there with my whip and quickly had the nursing staff begging for mercy. I got Hubby food, pain medication and the full undivided attention of the nursing staff.
My motto: Don’t mess with the big Dackel Mama! (Not unless you want to get bit in the butt!)

Hubby got his IV out, and they came in and changed the knee dressing, so I got my first good look at the incision. I am going to put the pictures on the extended entry so if anyone gets queasy they do not have to look.
His doctor came in and showed us the x-rays from before the surgery and then after. Amazing! he is pleased with Hubby’s progress and if all goes well, Hubby will come home on Saturday! Yippee!!!
Physical Therapy came by and tortured him and they were really pleased with all the muscle work that Hubby did to prepare for the surgery.
All in all, I think today was a better day than yesterday.
After I had dinner with Hubby, I came back to the motel with the doggies and we are going to have a nice early night of snuggling.

Continue reading “Post Op Hubby”

What do all good wives do when they have just had the most exhausting day worrying about their husbands, and then go back to their motel rooms expecting to sleep all night long? Yes, they wake up at 4 AM worrying about the big guy!

I woke with a start, and got up and turned on the lights. Fritz and Greta immediately got up and wanted to go out. So I got on my jacket and took them out back for a nice long walk. They both rewarded me with “great” things.
Then we came back in and I called the nurses station to check on Hubby. His nurse told me that he is sleeping well, and hasn’t had any more nausea tonight. I’m glad.
I’m glad that one of us is sleeping!
So, there I was feeling like a lost puppy. I got some water in my mug and made myself a nice hot cup of tea.
In my family, when anything went wrong, or someone was sad, worried, mad or sick, we always made tea. There is something so soothing about that for me. I think it’s generations of my ancestor’s smiling down on each sip, stroking me to sooth my soul.
Many years ago when my grandmother was very ill, and we knew that her time with us would end soon, my sister and I and our daughter’s all got together with a big pot of tea and a tin of special cookies and had a tea party. We sat on Grandma’s bed, drinking tea, eating cookies, (no one worried about crumbs) and talked. I can still see my grandmother’s happy face and hear her sweet old lady laugh as we had our tea.
That was the last time I spent with Grandma, and that memory is oh, so sweet!

My plans for today is to have a nice breakfast here at the motel. Then drive to the food co-op nearby and get a lunch salad for myself, and maybe a treat. (stress eating) Then go over to the hospital and spend the day with Hubby. I’ll go down every couple of hours to walk and water the dogs.
I imagine Hubby will sleep a good part of the day, but I do know they will be getting him up and making him use the crutches to get around.
Tonight is “get a real meal” night for me. I’ll see what they have at the co-op (they have such a great deli, and ready made food section there, including lot’s of great cheeses!).

So that’s the news, at 4:30 AM here in New Hampshire. I think another cup of tea is definitely in order!

Well, all is said and done, and the operation is over. They were able to remove the cysts from Hubby’s leg, repair the artificial knee and do some repair work to the tibia and fibula with bone grafts. It took over three hours and I was on my last finger nail when the doctor came out to speak with me. He told me how important it is to keep Hubby quiet and OFF that leg for the next six weeks. I told him I had my handy dandy club in the car to hit Hubby over the head with to keep him down!
I have decided that I do not wait well. All during Hubby’s surgery I was in the “Surgical Waiting Room“.The clocks don’t move in that room the way they do in “real life”! A minute is an hour and an hour is an eternity! I was going insane!
Eventually I stopped trying to be alone and started talking to strangers. Yes, that’s me. Picking up strangers in the surgical waiting room. What I found was, there were others like me. Nervous, exhausted people waiting for some small word from the O.R. I had one nice chat with a woman who simply hates my eye surgeon. Dr. C. Now I adore him, but I could see her point. He is not the sort of doctor that is going to be your best buddy. However, he is truly a gifted surgeon.
Then I spoke with a woman whose husband was having brain surgery. We got along really well, and before I knew it, we were laughing and talking like we were old pals. We kept each other company until Hubby was out of surgery and needed me.
I’m off to bed now and then up early tomorrow to get back to the hospital to take care of my guy.

***Updated***
So who didn’t sleep last night? Who is awake and a nervous wreck? You guessed it. Me! Well, at least Hubby will have fun today. He plans to watch the entire knee event. Yes, the doctor gave him permission to stay awake through the whole thing. I’m guessing the doctor doesn’t know how much Hubby can talk! LOL!
***********************************Hubby. We go to the hospital at 8:15 AM and his surgery is scheduled for 10:15. So everyone out there in Cyberland, say a little prayer that all will go well for my sweetie.
I’m going to be doing what all good wives do when their spouses are under the knife. I’ll be sitting in a waiting room, either on my computer, or reading or crocheting and probably drinking coffee. Since I don’t know which will provide me with a good mindless distraction, I will have my backpack with me with all three, and a thermos of coffee.
I’ll be posting Wednesday night with the results of his surgery, and I’ll be trying to get a little blurb up each day, but I’m afraid that I won’t be visiting my favorite sights for a couple of days. So please forgive me ahead of time.
Well, we’re off!