On Sunday June 12, my girl was experiencing a lot
of challenges inherit with her not having eaten in a month. In order to combat
the diarrhea the doctor requested that the feed tube be stopped and my wife be
put on normal foods. He suggested a Tm Horton’s muffin but the nurse thought
better to take it slow. The male staff were so well, male like, the care came
from the nurses and I cringed if we got a male nurse. The doctor also suggested
that an ileostomy may be a temporary measure required until her system is
functioning but another specialist did not want to do that unless it was
absolutely necessary. Phew!
My lady had physiotherapy in the morning and for the 1st time since May
11 sat unsupported with her feet dangling over the beds edge. She was well below
her normal slim build weight and very weak. At this point the physiotherapy was
being done by the stroke floor physiotherapist since there was some concern
that my wife’s right side had stroke like symptoms (from the cardiac arrest).
The specialist did a small vision test with my girl and she followed the
pen movement but was seeing double. That’s not abnormal after such an experience
as she had endured.
The surgeon reviewed my wife’s leg during a dressing change and was very
happy with its appearance. He suggested that a tentative June 14 visit to OR to
review and possibly close the upper leg may be postponed till later in week. A
skin graft was still a real possibility if the wound did not heal on its own.
The surgeon suggested that the staples on the outer leg wound would be ready to
remove in the next week. There was also some mention of removing the tracheotomy
and moving my wife to floor 6 in the coming week.
We were still unsure what she was all processing in her mind, it could
be that she was embarrassed about her appearance, need for medical attention,
who knows, but she did request another quiet day with no company but me. I
cherished this alone time. I oversaw my wife feed herself Jell-O, her first
real food since May 11. She looked so proud! My girl spent 15min outside with
me in her stretcher chair. This was a big cumbersome chair. My wife had part of
an ice cream bar and pronounced that life could not be better! She also had
cranberry juice and milk.
On Monday June 13, 2005 it was desperately hot in the ICU. My girl did
not sleep well. She was coming off the drugs and without them it was an awful
environment to sleep in. My girl thanked me for my support and we both prayed.
While I was at home the Physiotherapist got my wife on her feet for the 1st
time. I hated to miss these moments, but regret being a little controlling
during that period.
My special girl was moved to the 6th floor (rm 6S10) in the early
afternoon. Praise God. It was very hot since the air conditioning was down. I
bought my girl a fan. We turned it on without the guard since I had to wait for
my father in law to show up with a screw driver. My wife was still having diarrhea
but I was warned not to panic since her system was expected to take time to
adjust, possibly it could take a week. Since she was in a private room we
agreed that I would continue to stay the night. This allowed me to comfort her
since she was still coming off the drugs which stopped June 12 (morphine and
a drug that was up to 10 times as potent as morphine equivalent). She was still
seeing objects flying around and would get quite frightened and without
warning.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5
New International
Version (NIV)Praise to the God of All Comfort
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ.
Kutless - God Of Wonders
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