Day Two Post-Op

So that Judson could have one nap in his bed (for the first time in four days), we didn't head to Eugene until the early afternoon. Morgan and Anna were just getting there too. (Morgan was in a wedding in Washington, so they didn't see Dad on Saturday.)

When we got to his room, my dad was sitting in a chair and looking so much better! Most of the tubes had already come out (chest tube, catheter, etc.), so that was great. Obviously the pain is still really bad, but that is to be expected. Not only are his ribs now wired backed together, but his left arm is very black and has a large incision the length of it (where they took an artery for the surgery). His left leg has three horizontal incisions where they cut to pull a vein out. Apparently they can't do that for arteries, which is why the arm looks so much worse. The chest incision was unwrapped, but we weren't brave enough to look at that.

Shortly after we got there, Dad took his first walk out into the hall. He'd previously only been to his door. This time, he went about ten to fifteen feet into the hallway. He said the worst (and very scary) part is that he can't take a deep breath, so it felt like he was suffocating. He's doing a lot of breathing practice into a little green thing-a-ma-jig, so that will help him be able to take deeper breaths.

We were amazed at how well he was moving. Standing up and sitting down in his chair are becoming (practically) easy for him. Now it's the getting in and out of bed that are really painful. Since he's not supposed to push or pull, it's next to impossible. Different CNAs have different methods of helping him get up; some work much better than others.

Dad got to have real food yesterday. He had French toast for breakfast, a Caesar salad for lunch, and a hamburger for dinner. He got to choose what he had. Nothing's tasting good to him yet, but he's working really hard to eat it all. His doctor said he just needs to focus on getting enough calories, because that's really important for healing. Later on, he can focus on diet changes.

Okay, I think those are the highlights. My mom has mentioned over and over what good "medicine" Judson is. We're so thankful that he's content to go hang out at the hospital for hours upon hours! He made my dad laugh a couple of times yesterday and once it was nearly a belly laugh. Music to our ears!

Physical therapy starts today and it's going to be brutal. However, Dad is so willing to do exactly what he's being asked to do and I'm sure he'll pass with flying colors. We think they'll be sending him home at the end of the week. Mom's nervous about having to drive him for two and a half hours, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, his improvements every day have been amazing, so who knows what he'll be up for by the end of the week!