Well, the pain was less this morning and much better by this afternoon. He was able to get through his therapies just fine, with a little added help of more morphine, but not much. All the doctors are happy to have him in casts and believe the next set and the ones after that will be much less painful. He did have a rough night, however. Everyone was so worried about him that the physical therapist even called the nurse twice in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep.
Speaking of sleep, I am looking forward to a good night's sleep myself. I asked for a room change because they are doing construction here. There is an access road here on the grounds that is very busy during the day and they close it at night to lay pipes, etc. They use heavy construction equipment from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. every night except Saturday. My old room overlooked this road and I was awake a lot. Sunday night was the worst and I only had three hours sleep. On top of the construction noise, the trucks, etc. beep when they back up!! Awful! Last night we think they turned the beepers off because it was better, but they moved my room to another one a little further away. Hopefully, it will be better.
Mark had some Cleveland visitors today. One of the pipe band members and his wife came to see him. They are visiting family here in Tampa. Mark was delighted to see them. They brought him CDs, t-shirts and an electronic practice chanter. He is moving his left arm so much better, that we hope he will be able to play it soon. Everyone was surprised to learn Mark was a bagpiper! He promise the doctors he would play for them before he leaves!
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Monday, February 4, 2008
Well, there was no blog yesterday because Mark and I were busy with a wild Super Bowl party. We celebrated with a burger, chili mac for Mark, and a couple of chocolate shakes. Are we the wild ones or what??!!
Actually, we had a quiet day and Mark had a long nap in the afternoon before the game. I ran out and got us some "goodies" and we watched the Giants win. Unfortunately today, he couldn't remember who had won. I think he was just placating me by rooting for the Giants.
Today, was very un-quiet. Actually, it screamed and roared. He had speech therapy and did very well with his "lessons" and then they came to cast his legs. They decided, along with Mark and my approval, to do both legs. The casts will come off on Thursday, and the second set put on. He was in a great deal of pain and had to be given additional medication to get through the day. He was in a lot of pain yesterday with the braces because he continues to pull up his knees. The pain should be less in the coming days as the casts stretch the muscles. It is hard to see him in so much discomfort, but he knows if he wants to walk again, it is a necessity.
Hopefully, he will relax his impluse to pull up his legs, and the casts will be more comfortable. He will have his regular PT tomorrow. We are hoping that the pain will be worth it. They assure us it will. Seeing how uncomfortable the braces were, it is our best hope. We have witnessed first hand (pardon the pun) how well his arm and hand are since that casting. He is actually moving his arm and starting to reach for things with his hand. Therapy will increase that.
Today was only about as good as the date (a four) but tomorrow were looking for the date as well.