Sleep is a good thing

Its a small thing, I know but we actually racked up a whole 4-5 hours STRAIGHT of sleep. Wow!! It was awesome. Roger did wake a couple times choking/coughing. I was able to raise the head of his bed quickly enough that he really didn't wake out of the sleep. There was only one instance of arranging/rearranging the bed. You see, he sleeps with about 8-9 pillows in the hospital bed...trying to find that optimum position that feels good (or the least amount of pain) while also taking pressure off his backside. Its been a nightly dance...often repeated several times during the night. Not set to music other than the rustle of sheets, fluffing of vinyl covered pillows (ick!!), and the tick of Roger's various IV machines. Though it can be a little frustrating to move a pillow 5 inches and then end up moving it back to the same position only 30 minutes later, you can't blame him. He's been in a hospital bed for 21 days which is a veritable lifetime.



We started the day at 7 this morning as the nurse came in to put Roger through the morning paces. I think he could have kept sleeping but ended up getting up. We went for a walk down the hall and back. He is now off having a chest xray. The xray should show how much fluid is/isn't in his chest and also confirm there is no other leak. This should be good for Roger to hear. He has been extremely apprehensive about the possibility of another potential leak. Again, who can blame him. He vividly remember the pain from the first leak.

Roger's IV tower is significantly less encumbered. There are fewer and fewer tubes and wires...with each one being removed, we know that Roger should feel a little better. He has been using his pain medicine less and less. The removal of the first chest tube helped immensely. I'm sure the removal of the second tube will bring him even closer to "normal". He said he doesn't really notice the feeding tube...which is a good thing. I think that will stay with him for another 2-3 weeks. Likewise, the staples in his incision on his stomach will stay until a week or two after we leave the hospital.

We have had visits by two of our favorite ICU nurses - Holly and Arika. They stopped by at the end/beginning of their shifts to check in on Roger's progress. Both were very pleased to seem him up and about and full of color. His personality is still slowly emerging from the frozen tundra of narcotics and hospital fog - but he still joked with us a little. It was such a small thing to stop by and visit but had a profound impact on us. Roger has been more than just a room number with a patient.

The plan for today: more walks, physical and occupational therapy exercises, lots of boring TV. I'll be leaving mid afternoon to meet my family at our house to take down our Christmas tree. I'll squeeze in a couple loads of laundry and a shower (Roger and the nurses will appreciate that!) A couple hours away from the hospital helps keep ME from having hallucinations and being a little whacked.

This little adventure over the last 21 days has led to our own version of America's Biggest Loser weight loss program. Roger is down approximately 22 pounds and I'm down about 15 pounds. Its par for the course. I anticipate that he'll probably drop another 5-10 pounds though we certainly are going to work to avoid that....and put more weight on him! We may be revisiting the high protein shakes/smoothies that he had during chemo.

Things are good...much better each day. He is getting a little more affectionate and tender as he has started to feel better. The sweetest moments for me have been when he reached out to hold my hand in the middle of the night (I push my cot up next to the side of his bed), and then just a few minutes ago when he asked me to crawl into bed with him so that he could snuggle up next to me.

:-) Angie