Day 11 (SDH+10, PAO+5)

Just a quick update...

We're still waiting for Matt's bowels to wake up and get moving.  The x-rays showed that his abdomen is mostly full of air, not much stool.  We've tried different laxatives, suppositories, stool softeners, enemas, walking, etc.  The doctors and nurses keep emphasizing that movement is the best solution right now.  We continue to pray and wait.

Today my Aunt Kay brought the kids to visit us for the first time.  Riding the elevators seemed to be the highlight.  Matt was pretty groggy so wasn't able to participate in much conversation.  I'm so thankful that the kids are doing well.  My sister, Kari, has been able to spend a lot of time with them and carry on with home education and "parenting".  The rest of my family as well as some friends, the Deffinbaughs, have helped to carry the load too.  It's a huge blessing to know that our children are in good hands, that I've been able to stay with Matt at the hospital and that we can focus our attention here. 

The symptoms of Matt's pain medications haven't been all bad.  My sister, Kari, came to stay with us last night and the two of has had some fun laughing at Matt.  You know how carefully Matt thinks and how modest he is:

• He was reading on his iPhone and said that the groups of words were turning into trucks and driving away off the screen.  (Just so you know, he recognizes the fact that his mind is playing tricks on him.)

• He was asking the nurse about some seepage from his wound site.  He asked, "Should my website be dry?"

• Randomly Matt asked me, "Where did you put our keys this time?"  I clarified, "Our car keys?"  "Yeah."   I answered, "The valet attendant has them."  "Oh", he said.  Curious, I asked, "Why did you ask me that?"  "I don't know," he said. 
  

• Referring to his catheter, "It's kind of fun to pee in bed!"

Obviously, it's not all funny here, but I was glad for my sister to be here and for us to have some laughs together.  Thankfully, Matt's pain is under control and he's been able to get out of bed and walk some.  We've also been able to get more sleep, which goes a long way.

By the way, I guess I didn't ever write that Matt's PAO surgery went well.  Dr Mayo was pleased with his work.  He was able to correct the hip angle to almost normal.  He doesn't expect there to be any problems with it.

The status summary is that there have been two good surgeries.  But recovery has been very difficult and not normal.