Home Again

John’s surgery was done on Monday. It ended up being a long day. His surgery was originally scheduled for 1:00pm. Due to some delays in the operating room, they did not take him in until 3. The surgery lasted about an hour and then they brought him into recovery. Poor guy – they had him seated upright with has head taped to gurney. He had to stay in that position without moving for 3 hours.

For me as a caregiver, I was of course very nervous during his time in the operating room. Then, they would not let me into the recovery room. This made me feel sorry for him, being in there all alone and guilty that my son and I were sitting outside. I know feelings I had when I was in labor with my daughter. I was in a hospital where no one was allowed to be with me. It’s a very lonely feeling to be there by yourself and not being able to hold a loved one’s hand when either you or they are in pain.

He slept through the night on Monday and had a pretty good day on Tuesday. Unfortunately, he had some pain on Tuesday night. This has happened previous times that he has had this procedure. The nerve has just been traumatized. You have to wait until it calms down. Then begins the long process of backing off of the medications. It’s a Russian roulette style procedure where you reduce the level slightly, wait to see if you are still pain free, wait 5-7 days and do it again. Unfortunately, there is no better way to do it. We are praying for success but will likely not know for some time.