Well our son came along to visit his Dad today. When we got there Darren’s left eye was so swollen he could not open it. It had swelled a lot since I had left Friday afternoon.
Our son spent a little time with Darren before he was whisked away to the Plaza to spend time with Grammy and PaPa.
When the nurse came in she was giving him his meds and named them and said “Lamictal” and I stopped her and said “The doctor told me he was stopping the Lamictal” so she called him and they had changed their mind. The would cut his Zonegran in half at night instead. So he continues his Lamictal.
He was not excited about doing much because his face and eye were so swollen. He did try to watch TV but he really just listened to it. He was still very sleepy.
He had a bath by two nurses and we learned they shaved both of his legs in surgery. Go figure! He loved that bath!
The Physical Therapist person came in and got him up and into the chair. In classic Bud-ness he laid his best burp on her with a “Oh yeah” afterwards. She laughed and said “Mr. Long I remember you doing that to me last time. You made me smile today.” Darren moved into the chair. He did not stand for long, he was very unsure of himself.
He loves the chair! He sat there most of the day and watched/listened to the TV. He got an ice pack on his eye and it helped a lot.
He is still not eating enough. If his sodium levels go too low he can have a seizure and it will mess up the data they need from the EEG leads. So I wore my Army pants and my Army Hooah shirt and had to be General Sherry on him to eat! He ended up eating some fruit and half a hamburger. He had eaten some oatmeal earlier and some of his yogurt. For supper he ate half of a half of grilled cheese and some jello and 2 bites of carrot cake. It still was not enough. He had to drink salt water “shots” and they ended up putting him on a sodium drip in his IV. He can’t drink water when they do that, he can only drink Soy Milk (because he is lactose intolerant) and Gatorade.
There are no rooms on the 8th floor yet so he is still in ICU, the 9th floor.
He gets asked:
“What is your name?”
“When were you born?”
“What is today’s date?”
…constantly. He has some unique answers. He always says his name correctly. When it comes to his birthday he would say: “The Ides of March” which is true, but most people don’t know what that is. Today’s date he struggles with. He had the number 27 stuck in his head today. He used it for the year a lot. Hmmmm… Oh they ask him “Why are you here?” He replies “to see all the pretty nurses.” Then he says “Brr-ainn Surgery” in a funny voice.
Darren did not get nausea or throw up in any way, so that was good. He is not using his right arm at all. Now I know this is his tremor arm but at home he uses it occasionally for things but not at all at the hospital.
There is a nurses aid in the room at all times, helping with toileting and other issues. They are to watch him also for seizures and for him to not touch his EEG leads.
Oh! While his parents were there the Anesthesiologist came in and said if the nodules in his throat were still swollen they weren’t sure if they could do the 2nd surgery.
We need prayers for those nodules and for seizures. I know it is strange but those doctors need more data so they can determine the best piece of his brain to remove.
The Catalpa Chronicles 