12/09/09

12/09/09
They are going to let Jim rest today, to let his lungs sort themselves out. Jim is off all his blood pressure support medication which is a good thing. The medicines were the whole reason he had a blood pressure at all, so it's nice now that he can sustain a blood pressure all by himself.
I suddenly have tons of paperwork I need to figure out. Yuck. That's the last thing in the world I want to be doing.
The nurses are telling me that I can't take this day by day, but I should take it week by week. He's gonna have good days and bad days. And the bad days will be really scary. But if I look at things over the course of a week, then things should even out and I will be able to see that he is getting a little better.
12/10/09
They are letting Jim rest today because he's too unstable to do anything with. He is substantially more swollen. You can see his intestines all around the edge of the wound vac. They're all sealed in plastic, but he's so swollen that they're bulging out. I saw the kids today too which was nice. They are being very brave, and their prayers for Daddy are so sweet.
Before all this had happened, Jim and I had planned to take the kids on a Santa Cruise-which is basically a christmas cruise on the local lake, We'd never done it before so thought we'd give it a go. But then the accident happened. I thought Jim would want me to go with the kids so I went ahead and took them, but let me tell you it was the hardest thing I ever did to go there and pretend like I was so excited about the whole thing. But the kids had a good time so I am glad for that.
I went back to the hospital after the cruise, and the night nurse is concerned about the extra swelling on Jim's abdomen. They're concerned about the coughing and there being no muscle support when he coughs. He could literally bust his gut open. So they are going to give him a paralytic, which, you guessed it, will paralyze him. The risk of using this drug too much, though, is paralysis. Long term, but hopefully not forever. It's only a risk, but a risk nonetheless, so they are trying not to use it too much, and only when absolutely necessary.
12/11/09
The paralytic helped, the wound vad was unchanged overnight. They are planning to change the dressing on the wound vac Saturday morning and surgery on his legs Sunday.
Jim got a new bed today. An air bed that rotates by inflating and deflating different compartments, which will be good for his lungs, and hopefully help with pressure sores (bed sores). Jim tolerated being moved fairly well.
The nurse gave me some vaseline for Jim's lips, which were getting pretty dry. I was really excited because it was something I could actually do for Jim all by myself. I feel pretty helpless not being able to do anything for him.
Ok, more in the next day or so. Hopefully I'll get caught up soon.