Well it seems that they couldn't justify keeping Clem in the ICU any more and today around 4:30p.m. they wheeled him and his belongings out into a room. Actually it is more like a very big closet but considering that we have lived for months at a time in our little Casita this feels quite spaceous.
There seems to be three very tough hurdles in the recovery trek from surgery. 1. ) getting out of bed and sitting up for the first time, 2) peeing on your own after the catheter is removed, and 3) the first walk down the hall. I have already described the dreaded first sitting. The peeing thing came fairly easy because the massive influx of iv fluids had to come out somewhere and the constant treat of recatherization was serious motivation. However, he really didn't think walking down the hall today was in his best interest even though the only sign in his room stated, HAVE YOU AMBULATED TODAY?
I thought the sign should actually say...YOU BETTER GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF THAT BED AND WALK DOWN THE HALL FOR THE FIRST TIME WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THAT EPIDURAL IN YOUR BACK KEEPING MOST OF THE PAIN AT BAY! but it didn't. His cute little nurse however did come in and read the Doctor's instructions to walk down the hall this afternoon and of course Clem is going to follow all instructions especially if he has to report his success back to a cute little nurse. I am happy to report at this time which is Saturday 9:00 p.m. est, approximately 72 hours after major liver surgery, Clem has successfully received and been presented with his post surgery certification.
On a more informative note. Clem is in room 504. He loves having company and would love to hear or see you. It would be nice if you could call in advance for a few days to see if he is up to your visit and to make sure he has not been overwhelmed with guests. Even though he is improving miraculously he does need lots of rest and for those of you who have been in the hospital before you know that it does not always come easy here.
Thank you again for all the texts, emails, and calls. They mean so much to him. We love you all.
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2 comments:
Holy crap!! 7 pounds? Now, being one of 'those' people who grew up in the rest of the world (metric), I just found myself searching the food pantry to get some concept of how heavy 7 pounds really feels... I was thinking maybe a carton of soy milk or a bottle of tonic, but my trusty number-nerd husband just informed me that it's more like nearly a gallon of water! Holy crap, indeed.
or over 100ft of 11mm rope!!! (yup I'm the rope nerd husband mentioned above)
Glad to hear that you are on the mend.
Now get up and ambulate!
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