Recovery - Day 5, Almost Tomorrow...

Thanks again to Amanda and Alejandro for covering this morning so I could stay home a while.  Jessie took Saturday evening so I could go home early, and Matt is scheduled for the coming week.

So far family only. Peter is not up for visitors.

To repeat, Peter is doing great medically, but he feels just awful and the cumulative effect so of so much poking and prodding and pain is taking a toll. 

Today's big news is that his gut is waking up, and they've started the tube feeding.  I think that will give him more energy, but for now his body is adjusting.  I read the ingredients of what they're feeding him and shouldn't have.

The other good news is that we loved today's nurse, Courtney, and she'll be back tomorrow.  That's only the second time that a nurse has returned.  It is hard to adjust to a new person every day and every night.

The really big day will be when the chest tube comes out.  With that several other tubes will disappear.  They'll do a swallowing test and he might be able to start taking some nutrition by mouth.  Soon-- but we don't know when.

On Friday (I think) I asked the surgeon's PA to tell me the name of the surgery so I could write it down.  Turns out I was writing THEM down (medical friends, correct me if I have something wrong...he talked fast).  The first is called EGD - esophagogastroduodenoscopy.  Then VATS -(video assisted) right thorocoscopic mobilization.  Then the McKeown esophagogastrectomy, and finally the feeding jejunostomy.  After all of that you'll understand why this is such an ordeal.

My time with Peter started a little rough today...he'd endured about an hour of more poking and prodding (let's refer to it as P&P) before I got there.  We tried to walk but the tubes were tangled and one was very short, so it was really hard not to hit his heel with the wheel of the rolling stand that holds all those meds.  Still managed 4 laps, then Courtney's patient de-tangling that involved a bit of moving around...and a bit more P&P.  The new tube requires and every six hour blood sugar test...more P&P.

Then he fell asleep, so I tried to find some food at the hospital (no luck...every veggie had butter on it), so I went for a walk in Duke Gardens.  It is waking up right along with Peter's belly.  Here are some pictures to close with.

The last picture is of the petals of a beautiful tree on the ground below.

Finally, many nights when I leave Duke I turn right (instead of left) and head to Whole Foods for some nourishment:

If you read my newspaper column today: http://www.heraldsun.com/view/full_story/17912087/article-The-comfort-and-joy-of-being-known  you'll know that I mentioned Vickie Jamieson-Drake.  Tonight I ran into her again at WF, and shortly thereafter, saw son-in-law Matt Dudek and talked him into a quick dinner.  He's a good listener.

Thanks to you all for so many amazing messages and offers of support and help.  We'll be able to take you up on some of it soon, we promise.