Saturday, September 08, 2007

Let the healing begin~~~~

It's done!! Surgery was moved back one day but now it's a week and a half behind us!! That was one of the longest,scariest days of my life! As long as I live I will never forget sitting and waiting in that surgical waiting room. Every time the phone rang I held my breath! Our day started at 3:45 a.m. the morning of the eclipse! KK was occupied on the drive to the hospital watching the moon disappear! Once there KK checked in and then he and our son went back outside to watch leaving me holding the bags~~literally!! From that point things moved rapidly which we were grateful for~~no sitting around getting nervous waiting to go. Within a half hour KK was whisked away and we were steered to the waiting room and coffee. Around 12:45 and 5 by-passes later it was over and we were able to speak with the doctor. Everything went well and we were able to see KK and all his hook-ups for a couple minutes~of course he was still heavily sedated. He was kept that way through the middle of the night when they started to let him breathe on his own~~by morning he was awake and no breathing tube and he had breakfast!! Amazing!! He slept most of the day but was doing good. That night he had a couple issues they had to deal with and because of that he was kept in the intensive care unit an extra day. By Friday he was moved to the cardiac floor where they still monitor you but you have more freedom. He was encouraged to get up on his own and take some short walks. At first he had to be coaxed to do so because some dumb ass told him he could rip himself open! Which maybe 30 years ago could happen but not so now. You're sewn,stapled and glued from the inside out! One of the nurses finally said to him "you want to go home? get up and start walking before you get pneumonia" That's all it took~~he was on a roll!! The nurses were joking that they never had a patient that was power walking after surgery!!
Saturday was my b'day and he was so hoping to be out of there by then. Since that didn't happen the kids decided to give me my gifts at the hospital so he wouldn't miss everything. That worked out quite well(presents are good anytime,right?) I guess they got tired of hearing me say my iPod doesn't hold all my podcasts at once so they decided to all chip in and get me the bigger one!! That was a great surprise!! I mentioned that I felt like doing a puzzle and someone was listening~~dd found one with sheep!! Perfect!
On my way to the hospital I stopped to visit with Heather at her market and she gifted me with an awesome beaded necklace that I had admired(ok, so I actually drooled a bit) about a month ago . What a wonderful way that was to start my day!
We left KK early in the evening and finished the day at dd's. They surprised me with all sorts of finger foods and shrimp cocktail! Frozen strawberry daiquiris were the drink of choice! DS can whip up a pretty decent one! The evening ended with coffee and cookie cake! The only thing that could have made the day any more perfect is if KK would have been with us.
Sunday was release day~~a bit nerve racking to say the least. I was trying to miss every pothole in the road! I was so happy to pull into our driveway and get him into the house. That was an exhausting afternoon for the both of us!
It's been a long tiring and somewhat stressful week but the worst is behind us now. KK has the physical pain and discomfort to get through and I have the mental(no jokes,please!) but we 'll do it !!
So as I already said~~"let the healing begin"
Off to
Knit

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

i am SO glad to hear the worst is behind you. I wish KK a speedy and as painless as possible a recovery!! And happy belated birthday!

Suzi Doe said...

I am overjoyed at the news of KK's returning health and I am praying for your strength as well, take care of yourself. Happy Birthday!