Boy oh boy we’ve had a whirlwind of a day – but Tom is doing very well and already of out ICU! We had a very long night last night in ICU – we had nurses and doctors coming in all the time, we had x-rays at 4:30 in the morning, all the while Tom was feeling terrible and still in incredible pain. We didn’t get a ton of sleep – but we were making progress.
The morning continued to be tense as Tom’s blood pressure remained high (usually indicates pain level) and there were so many tubes still attached to him. While ICU provides wonderful care, it’s a very scary place to be hanging out and just has an overall tense feel. We got two of his huge IV’s taken out mid-morning which required lots of work due to their location – then they wanted to get him up and to the chair to sit upright. This was quite the feat for Tom, it took quite a while, and a few nurses but we got him up and moved to the chair. It’s very painful for him to get up and down but he did so great on his first move. Going back to the bed awhile later was equally as tough and painful but he powered through, followed all the directions, and made it safely back in bed.
While he was sitting up – we all of a sudden saw some familiar faces peek around our door. Our day nurses from his chemo treatments had found us and come up to see us! It was the sweetest gesture and they were so excited to see Tom had conquered surgery - we didn't even know they knew we were back at the hospital. We love our nurses and were so incredibly touched that in the chaos of their day they saw Tom’s name on the hospital list and came to say hello. Like I’ve said before they really have become friends.
Anyway, after he conquered the chair they were able to take out of one his chest tubes that were draining fluid from the area. I’ll spare the gore details on this one, but it was not pleasant for Tom. The only upside was it was one less tube coming in or out of his body. Once this was all done we got the all clear that he had graduated from ICU! Let me just say – Tom continues to amaze me – he was leaving ICU just shy of 24 hours after his procedure finished and they had originally told us to prepare for several days. INSANE.
We got to our new home in the cardiac unit and settled in – which was quite the process considering Tom is still hooked up to so many things ranging from oxygen to IVs, drain tubes, etc. We got him settled and then were able to relax. Our new unit is one floor above our chemo floor so we are much more familiar with this area of the hospital and in a weird way being in one of our typical rooms made us much calmer since it felt familiar and has way less equipment or tension than the ICU.
Tom rested most of the afternoon until it was time for a walk. Once again, quite the production- it requires two nurses to carry everything that he’s hooked up to - but he conquered it. The walking is mostly pain free for him – it’s really just that up and down that is tough. After a few walks today he really was done for the night and has since been resting.
He did perk up this evening when our oncologist came in to see us. We hadn’t seen her yesterday but were very excited to see her today. She too was pleased with how the surgery went and is hoping to get us some preliminary results by Friday on the tumor results. Plus, she showed us a picture of the tumor which blew our minds. I won’t be posting it, for many obvious reasons, but this thing was huge and gnarly, and I’m so glad it’s out of him! To round out what has been an absolute insane day - I walked into the hall this evening to see our night chemo nurses coming up to see Tom as well. We just love them. :)
Despite the chaos of the past 36+ hours we are so grateful for our nurses and doctors and every single person in this place that had a hand in this going smoothly so far no matter how small a role they may have played. So tomorrow will be considered a success if we can get more of the tubes out of him, get his blood pressure down and his pain more tolerable – so that’s the plan! More to come….
The morning continued to be tense as Tom’s blood pressure remained high (usually indicates pain level) and there were so many tubes still attached to him. While ICU provides wonderful care, it’s a very scary place to be hanging out and just has an overall tense feel. We got two of his huge IV’s taken out mid-morning which required lots of work due to their location – then they wanted to get him up and to the chair to sit upright. This was quite the feat for Tom, it took quite a while, and a few nurses but we got him up and moved to the chair. It’s very painful for him to get up and down but he did so great on his first move. Going back to the bed awhile later was equally as tough and painful but he powered through, followed all the directions, and made it safely back in bed.
While he was sitting up – we all of a sudden saw some familiar faces peek around our door. Our day nurses from his chemo treatments had found us and come up to see us! It was the sweetest gesture and they were so excited to see Tom had conquered surgery - we didn't even know they knew we were back at the hospital. We love our nurses and were so incredibly touched that in the chaos of their day they saw Tom’s name on the hospital list and came to say hello. Like I’ve said before they really have become friends.
Anyway, after he conquered the chair they were able to take out of one his chest tubes that were draining fluid from the area. I’ll spare the gore details on this one, but it was not pleasant for Tom. The only upside was it was one less tube coming in or out of his body. Once this was all done we got the all clear that he had graduated from ICU! Let me just say – Tom continues to amaze me – he was leaving ICU just shy of 24 hours after his procedure finished and they had originally told us to prepare for several days. INSANE.
We got to our new home in the cardiac unit and settled in – which was quite the process considering Tom is still hooked up to so many things ranging from oxygen to IVs, drain tubes, etc. We got him settled and then were able to relax. Our new unit is one floor above our chemo floor so we are much more familiar with this area of the hospital and in a weird way being in one of our typical rooms made us much calmer since it felt familiar and has way less equipment or tension than the ICU.
Tom rested most of the afternoon until it was time for a walk. Once again, quite the production- it requires two nurses to carry everything that he’s hooked up to - but he conquered it. The walking is mostly pain free for him – it’s really just that up and down that is tough. After a few walks today he really was done for the night and has since been resting.
He did perk up this evening when our oncologist came in to see us. We hadn’t seen her yesterday but were very excited to see her today. She too was pleased with how the surgery went and is hoping to get us some preliminary results by Friday on the tumor results. Plus, she showed us a picture of the tumor which blew our minds. I won’t be posting it, for many obvious reasons, but this thing was huge and gnarly, and I’m so glad it’s out of him! To round out what has been an absolute insane day - I walked into the hall this evening to see our night chemo nurses coming up to see Tom as well. We just love them. :)
Despite the chaos of the past 36+ hours we are so grateful for our nurses and doctors and every single person in this place that had a hand in this going smoothly so far no matter how small a role they may have played. So tomorrow will be considered a success if we can get more of the tubes out of him, get his blood pressure down and his pain more tolerable – so that’s the plan! More to come….