We finally made it to a private room yesterday around noon. The second floor surgical recovery area is obviously much less intense than...go figure...Intensive Care. The last night in Intensive Care proved to be overwhelming~ we couldn't get out of there fast enough. The night nurse, Diana, was a bit of a steam roller. So far, she is the only nurse we've had two days in a row. She was certainly sweet enough but was pretty rough, man-handling, with her patients. Kinda a bull in the china shop. Anyway, I had slipped away to grab a couple hours sleep only to return around 3:30 to find the lights all on in Roger's room with Roger standing/huddled next to his bed while Diana frantically tore apart Roger's bed...apparently she had just lost the keys to the narcotics cabinets/machines at 3:00 am. Now, having had my own moments of losing stuff (especially recently) I can certainly relate and empathize with her on how frantic you feel when you lose something. ...but to turn Roger's room upside down and him with it at 3:30 in the morning was unearthing to say the least. We were THRILLED to see the transport person when he came to move us to the new room.

There are fewer nurse visits on this floor which has been a good thing. Our first nurse, Sue, ranks as one of the best we've had since the surgery. She was thorough, friendly, kind, and very "present". She didn't hesitate to learn a little about us while sharing a little about herself. She was the best way we could have been greeted to the new floor of care. Caregivers can make all the difference.

I now have a cot in the room with Roger which means I don't have to sleep in the waiting room areas anymore. We find that I can be more immediately responsive than the nurses for the little stuff like helping him reposition in bed, massaging out a cramp or charlie horse, pulling covers up or down, finding his sucking tube (devise to get the goo out...hows that for technical terminology?), adjusting pillows, etc. Plus, for me...I just like being near him. :-). The room is becoming cozy with flowers, and two little Christmas trees (thank you Nicole and Lisa). Though still a hospital room...its a little more festive. The attached pictures are Roger putting lights and decorations on the little spruce.

Tentative schedule here in the hospital is a total hospital stay of 7-10 days:

• Tomorrow, Friday 12/18, the doctors are expected to take out the epideral which has been blocking a good portion of the pain for Roger. Approximately 6 hours later, the bladder catheter is expected to be removed. Pain meds will be administered via feeding tube or IV. Apparently, they delay in the removal of the catheter is because the bladder and bowels are slow to wake up from the epideral fog.



• Monday 12/21, the surgeon will remove the naso/gastric tube (the one that sticks out of his nose and drains fluids from going down his throat/esophagus/stomach). That same day, they will conduct a swallow test/x-ray on Roger to see if there is any leakage from the areas where the surgeon stitched Roger back together. If the swallow test goes well, then he'll be able to try drinking clear fluids.



• Anticipated (hoped for) hospital discharge date somewhere between 12/22-12/24.

I have to ask a huge favor of everyone out there - friends and family alike....we know that many of you would like to come to the hospital to see Roger and show your support. As difficult as this might be to understand, the visits are really hard on Roger. As it is, he has a hard time getting sufficient sleep due to the constant visits by the nursing staff and the constant pain he is feeling. When someone comes to see Roger, he feels like he needs to "entertain" or chat it up with the guest....which means that he's not resting. He is embarrassed (whether or not you are family or friends) by having to drain different goo and stuff out of his system. It all adds stress. When the nurses come in to take Roger's vitals after a visit, his blood pressure is always up. So, the favor. We'd like to limit all future visits to the hospital until the first of next week. If you insist on visiting, then we ask that you limit the visit to 15-30 minutes. Once we get Roger home, and he is off all of the tubes and devices, then he will be up for visitors more often. Roger has been worried about asking any of you to refrain from visiting because he's afraid he's going to hurt someone's feelings. I'm hoping that no one takes offense to our honesty....more importantly that no one takes offense to our attempts to get Roger healthy as quickly as possible. As soon as Roger is ready to receive guests again, we'll let everyone know. As of this evening, his voice is starting to fade due to the combo of lots of talking with the naso/gastric tube down his throat. We will be getting Roger's phone back from his friend Paul (who has been babysitting the phone for Roger). When we get it back, you are more than welcome to call or text Roger. If he is up for talking/texting, then he'll respond. If he's not at that moment, then he'll respond a little later when he's up to it. Again, I hope that you all understand EVERYTHING we are doing at this point is to get Roger through this and back to his healthy, albeit somewhat obnoxious self.

I'll have more "roger moments" moments to share with you tomorrow. Last night and today were a little long for both of us - and filled with a lot more aggravation than either of us need.

Big hugs and kisses to all of you. R & A