An early post

Thought I'd try to post a little earlier today. 

Last 24 hours have been a small roller coaster.  Yesterday, Roger did relatively well for the majority of the day.  He seemed to have increased strength in his arms and body and was able to move and adjust himself in bed on his own. Its tempting to jump up and try to help him adjust or move pillows but as I pointed out to Roger's sister who came for a lengthy visit yesterday, we need to let him try to do as much as possible to work on his mobility and keep his muscles moving.  And, he did a great job of it yesterday. 

He also showed increased strength in his legs (albeit slight).  This will entail the proverbial "too much information" but is great proof of his ability.  I help Roger get out of bed to go to the bathroom (see, too much information).  The way we do this is Roger raises himself in bed and scoots to the edge of the bed swinging his legs down towards the floor.  I position myself beside him and squat down next to him, then on the count of three with my arm around his waist and his arm across my shoulders up we go.  When we were in the hospital, it took more of my effort to raise Roger up.  Here, Roger has lifted himself entirely.  I am of course there as support, backup and a safety net.  The lion share of the effort is all Roger.  Likewise, (too much info) lowering and raising himself to the commode.  These are huge accomplishments in our book.

Roger was pretty pooped last night. he didn't have a nap yesterday and it showed last night.  So he dozed on and off.  A good thing except it sometimes can lead to broken sleep. He woke at 2:30 with pain and used his pain button a couple times.  Then eventually he fell back asleep.  He woke again at 5:00 with extreme pain. We worked for an hour to reposition him, push his pain button and try to get him comfortable.  He eventually fell back asleep at 7:00 for another couple hours. 

The doctor came in around 10:30.  We discussed the night, the morning and the game plan for today.  Game plan: leave current pain drip and on demand dosage was bumped up. We then decided to add a nerve ending drug.  Roger this morning had extreme pain/sensitivity of his skin.  He said the touch of the sheets on his skin was excruciating.  So, the doctor felt we needed to address nerve pain as well.  The goal being to get through the weekend and then on Monday consider an MRI to see if we could determine the source of the pain and thus help with better controlling the pain.  Sounds reasonable enough.  The downside is this nerve targeted drug has the tendency to knock you out.  So the directive today was to let the drug work and try to sleep as you feel the need.  So, we didn't have any visitors today.  The focus was a quiet day to help Roger sleep when he felt the need.  And so he did, sleep on and off throughout the day.  Additionally, we have Roger on IV fluids - simple saline solution.  It took us pushing the doctor and explaining Roger has chronic kidney stones.  The doctor tried to suggest getting the fluids orally but unfortunately Roger just can't consume enough by mouth to stay sufficiently hydrated.  So, I pressed...in an effort to control his pain and prevent additional pain (i.e. kidney stones) it is prudent to do fluids.  A small long-eye from the doctor and he agreed to write the order.  As we sit here, the IV pump is driping 1000 ml of sodium chloride (saline) into Roger. 

The doctor suggested we limit the visits to shorter visits and maybe at certain hours so that Roger could (whether he is on the sleep inducing drugs or not) sleep when he felt the need and let his body try to recover.  Having said that, if you are inclined to visit, we ask that you touch base first and when you visit you limit the visit to no more than a couple hours.  And finally, please please please call or text before bringing food.  We have a little dorm fridge which is full to the brim and the staff here brings breakfast, lunch, dinner (albeit hospital food) and brings a snack cart around everyday.  Soooooo we have oodles of food.  If there is something we are craving or need, we promise we will let you know when you call or text.  We promise!

Roger has been very focused on trying to get some exercise as much as he can.  So last night and today, we have done a couple laps here in the room.  Which, for a guy who has been very sedentary for the last couple weeks, is like a mile for everyone else. He's also trying to increase the strength in his arms and hands by squeezing a stress ball.   Additionally, he has been making a concerted effort to EAT.   Today included a donut, a ginger snap cookie, two hot dogs, a little bit of a milk shake, a couple bites of roast beef, a brownie, a couple slices of apple with peanut butter, and now, as I sit here and blog, he is sipping a protein juice.  FREAKIN AWESOME!!!!  This is probably more than he's eaten in the entire last week.  I leaned in a kissed his shiny bald head and said thanks for trying so hard.  He said, thanks for helping me and staying by my side.  Silly man.  Thats the easy part.

As you know I like to share what I call perfect moments, a smile, a touch, a gesture of kindness by some random stranger, you name it...last night, as we were snugging in for the night, Roger was tucked in with 8 pillows circling his body wedged into ever nook and cranny of his body.  He had taken his ambien (from the safety of the bed, finally) and his ativan and push his pain button and was slowly approaching the land of nod.  I was settling in next to him in this large recliner with pillows wedged around and behind me trying to get comfortable.  As my head hit the pillow, I see this thin hand snake out from under the covers in the bed next to me and that thin, cold hand reached out to hold mine as we both fell asleep.  See?  A perfect moment.  Well, in my book its perfect. 

Going to go for now.  Roger is awake and I like to capture some of those waking moments as well.  Might even crawl into bed with him to snug a bit.

Sending virtual hugs your way. Luv, a&r