Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Nope, Not Home Yet

I now know what a surgery waiting room looks like.

Hubby and I were told that he might possibly go home Tuesday. But yet, here it is, Tuesday night, and hubby is in the same room, the same bed, but sporting a nicely gauze-wrapped arm. He's still dopey from the anesthesia (and I am too darn tired to see if that is spelled right).

He went in at 8:30 p.m. and I just now got home - it's nearly midnight.

The orthopedic surgeon had to go in and drain the abscess in hubby's arm. The infection just wans't getting any better in that particular spot and when they went in, they saw why. I don't quite understand it all, but it looks like the infection had actually built a "wall" in his arm. Blood vessels had started to wrap around it (apparently the body's attempt to heal itself). Thus, when they opened him up, he lost quite a bit of blood - 400 cc's (whatever that means). The incision was about four inches long, and hubby's arm is now packed with antibiotic gauze. He's going to be in some severe pain when he wakes up in the morning. I left him in his morphine-induced state. He was slowly coming out of it, but he was about ready to fall asleep when I finally took our daughter and made the now-familiar journey out of the hospital.

The doc has to go in and look at the arm again on Thursday morning to see how things look. That means another surgery.

I do not want to see this hospital bill.

This whole thing is just crazy. I never thought he'd be in there this long. I never thought I would become familiar with his different nurses. I never thought I would start to recognize the volunteers who work at the front desk. I also never thought I would eat such bad hospital food.

I have three days off this week, plus the weekend. That's five days. Those days will probably consist of hospital visits and writing. And I'm going to sneak in some good sleep time, too. I need it after what we've been through!

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. :-)

11 comments:

  1. Oh, Melissa, I'm so, so, sorry your family is in such dire straits. There are no words when the world starts falling in around you: health, bills, work. Please know you're in my thoughts. Maybe it helps to know others are experiencing similar trials; this has been the summer from hell here and the bad news just doesn't stop.

    *hugs*
    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:35 AM

    Thinking of you and your family, Melissa. I hope your husband is well soon! Hang. In. There.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Big, big hugs, Melissa. I'm so sorry to hear about the surgery, but at least now they know why the healing hasn't been as quick as expected.

    More hugs (((((((())))))))))

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh Mel, I can't believe it. That poor guy. I'm so sorry your family is going through this. You really need to get some rest this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:39 AM

    Hugs, Melissa--continued thoughts and prayers for your hubby and family. I hope the VA comes through for you. Take care.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous8:51 AM

    Thinking of you.

    In spite of the exhaustion, you can turn this material, from your blog and experience, into patient care and caretaker articles. You'll be able to sell them and offset some of these bills.

    Also, there's a migraine anthology looking for submissions -- I'll dig up the info and send it to you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous8:52 AM

    PS I don't know if you belong to a church -- but if you do, this is the time for them to step up and help.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Melissa, that's awful. It isn't the same thing but I used to see membranes form around tag devices surgically implanted in fish. And then sometimes the fish would begin to expel the tag through the body wall. Amazing what nature came up with. I really hope he's better soon. I wish I could help. And I know the church burned down, but you must have a minister you could speak to?

    ReplyDelete
  9. ((())) get some sleep.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, this has really been the journey from hell, hasn't it? Try to get some rest so you don't burn yourself out. I'll be thinking of you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Devon and Toni - I've been in contact with our pastor since day one, so no worries there. :-)

    ReplyDelete

I love to hear from you!

Staying Focused

Friends, sometimes it is exhausting to try and stay focused on goals. Eat healthier. Lose weight. Exercise.  Find a literary agent. Edit the...