Saturday, February 28, 2015

Update # 173

8 Years

This will be a fairly short note but not necessarily sweet.

Jeff had a very rough night experiencing pain with his Foley. He was alert enough to know Dad was with him. Jeff would call for Dad to “help me get out of bed”. Of course, Ken would explain he could not get up. During these times, Jeff became anxious and his heart rate and b/p went up high very quickly. The nurse would then give a med to help calm Jeff but the several hour drug lasted barely over an hour. This happened numerous times all night.

This morning, they did a bladder scan and said that looked fine. Then did a urine analysis and that was okay. So finally they took out the one Foley and replaced it with a new one. Within 20 minutes, Jeff’s pain level reduced and his high numbers began to drop. After being awake in pain most of the night, the dose of Oxycodone put Jeff into several hours of sleep. A much needed healing time.

The only problem with Jeff’s long nap was he was not able to really interact with my brother and sister-in-law. They drove down from Chicago last night to spend the weekend near Barnes. Today they spent 7 hours visiting with all of us and Jeff. We had planned to spend more time today and part of tomorrow together but our 3rd weekend of snow interfered. They returned to their hotel early and will head home without coming back to the hospital. But as they were leaving Jeff, he did whisper a few words to them! Thanks so much for coming to love on us and Jeff.

Last night and today were a step back for Jeff but thankfully the problem was resolved. Hopefully, Jeff will be able to be more alert tomorrow and do a few breathing exercises the doctor suggested he begin yesterday. We pray tomorrow will be a day that begins a stretch of true improvement in Jeff’s lengthy recuperation. We love to hear from you with those words of encouragement and support.

love,

Marcia