Well day 3 was very interesting. Gene continued with the indigestion or dry heaves all afternoon on day 3. 3 drugs did nothing so they tried phenegran, 15 minutes later he had his eyes wide open and was saying things like, why are all these people in my room, who set that fire and so on and so on. He also was sweating and dizziness was a problem. I ran to the nurses station to report I thought he was having a stroke. The nurse explained that the drug phenegran was probably the culprit. After 4 to 5 hours it wore off and the nausea was gone and Gene was back.
Amazingly enough at 2am he sat on the john, something came out and again at 4am.
This is good news, he slept between vitals checks and bag clearing for about 8 hours. I slept in the chair all night. Poor guy he was so nauseated.
So today day 4 alot has happened. He had a bath( IN BED), shaved, and washed his hair. Oddly enough he sat on the john again. The Stoma nurse came for the second time to give us our demonstration. We think we got it!
Six doctors were in. All checking him because of the episode with phenegran.No problem, all iv's are coming out today, meds will be by mouth, tomorrow real food.
Gene hasn't yet had alot of discomfort in the incision area, as well he hasn't been using his pain button much. Dr. Campbell said he will go home Thursday or Friday.
I said REALLY!!! I don't feel quite ready, scared maybe. We will have home care as well as complete instructions from the Doctor. Path report Thursday, I forgot about that, too much to think about. I don't need that right now.
Over the past 4 days the only problem was the dry heaves, yes its uncomfortable to have the iv's, the urine bag, and the incision drain but not so awful. The way he explained it to us is that with no food , the anesthesia, air gets trapped in your stomach, this operation is hard on the bowels, this inturn gives you air bubbles and the nasty nausea. Walking is the best thing, slow eating habits in small doses is best. Gene had no food until day 2, that was jello, juice, coffee.On day 3 he ate nothing because he was sick. Nor did he walk. Poor Guy.
Today being day 4 he has the same menu as day 2. But tomorrow, real food,I am sure not a hot dog. All in all it was along 5 days, but I am surprised at how fast you progress after getting on the road to being better. His attitude is good today, not yesterday, I felt so helpless for him, but I never left him alone. We have a ways to go, this is step one, path report step two, going home step three. And so it goes with us.
GOOD RIDENCE DAY 3!!!!!!!!Thanks for day 4!!!!! Ginger
