After all the doctors and interns came through, they removed his catheter. Right away Dr. Uysal and Mary came in. There was a giant mess of his leads, so after much discussion, two EEG staff came back and spent about 90 minutes untangling him.

Dr.Uysal gave directive that his evening seizure med would be completely stopped tonight.

He needed an MRI. Occupational Therapy came in and helped him get dressed and get in the chair. When they sat him up he buried in the girls face. He got in the chair and the EEG person was trying to get a second camera rigged up. She was unsuccessful and left the room.

Twenty second later he started gulping for air and I thought it meant he was going to throw up again. I handed him his bucket. He pushed it away and started convulsing. It lasted about 2 minutes. I pushed the video button but forgot to push the nurses button.
He was so disoriented. They asked him his name Darren Long he said. (great) then they asked when is your birthday? Darren Long, he said. What year were you born? He replied Darren….Long…darn lasagna. Dirty lazy. Then his words mumbled off to silence. He was so groggy. It took about an hour and a half for him to be able to answer correctly.

1:45 pm I am getting ready to leave and they move him back to his bed where he burped in the girls face again. Then they say he it’s next for an MRI. The Social Worker came in and talked to us. Dr. Camarata stops in. He was waiting on the MRI. They also want him to eat. I suggested his favorite lactose free yogurt. Camarata said go get some!

I left while they were taking him off the monitor so he could get his MRI.

I picked up our son from school and took him to his bowling league and supper, then took him to scouts. Took a quick shower and stopped by the store for the yogurt and I got him some Oatmeal Creme Pies and there was an accident on I-35 I sat for an hour there. Finally got back to hospital, he was gone! They were finishing up his MRI. He apparently kept getting bumped.

They wheeled him into the room and he said “This is a new room!!!”

We explained the day to him. He was a lot more coherent and he went to the bathroom with help and them his headache returned. They gave him some pain meds and antibiotic and he and I slept in 3 hour intervals.

I returned to the hospital do keep an eye on Darren.

I soon learned that the anesthesiologist had given Darren a nerve blocker and it was starting to wear off.

He was so uncomfortable. We tried neck rolls and sliding him up higher in the bed, they even gave him an ice pack for his head, which he slept with for about an hour. Next they tried IV pain meds which last about 90 minutes. So they brought in pain pills next. Well….he would get very nauseated and throw up after taking them. He asked the nurse and I over and over “What time is it?” When we told him he would let out a disgusted sigh.

I guess it was about 3:30 he moaned in pain again but this time he complained of chest pains. They immediately did an EKG but it was normal. So they did some more blood work. He had his bed raised and finally got some sleep.

He shouted from his bed once “Hey! Did you put your word puzzle back in the freezer?” He asked me a second time so I answered “Yes” he closed his eyes and slept for about an hour.

The EEG chick was in first this morning and he opened his eyes when he heard her voice. He had come unplugged sometime but since there was no seizure last night, it was OK. She said the nerve blocker was given because his head was in different positions for each set of holes in his skull and he had to maintain each position for two hours at a time.

Next Dr Solomon who is with Dr. Camarata and was present during surgery came in. He is like a big lumberjack. He explained the nerve blocker too. They tested his strength and asked him what day it is. He passed!

Another doctor from Camarata group did the exact same thing.

Now nurse Jordan is with him. Gave him some fentanyl for pain. He has Hydrocodone in a cup but he isn’t staying awake long enough to take it.

They would like to move him to the regular floor later today.

We are waiting on Dr Uysal to come in and start weaning his meds.

Darren told me to blog “I have a headache.”

His pretty staples and rainbow leads.

They want him for an MRI this morning to check everything.

Darren was in surgery for nine hours. Right before the surgeon showed up the hospital had a code red (fire alarm) then the surgeon told me it would be six to seven hours. It took about three hours just to get the first two holes drilled.

We had a nurse assigned to us her name was Nancy. She came about every ninety minutes and have an update.

I was fine until about four in the afternoon. Then I got ancy about it all.

I got a call from Mary the PA to Dr. Uysal, while I was in the waiting room. That didn’t make sense so I went to the ICU nurse and tracked her down. Answered her questions and went back to wait for the surgeon. I missed him somehow, but I was in Darrens room. He was very puffy and could barely open his eyes they were so swollen and matted.

They finished hooking up his EEG leads and my Mom and I went to our house for a break.

His leads this time.

I headed back to the hospital to find his call light not being answered for awhile. I went and personally got the nurse. He was on a lot of pain in his head and neck. The nurse took forever trying to make a neck pillow for him. Finally and she brought pain med for his IV line.

About twenty min later he got nauseous. So after he calmed down again they have him his night meds. They almost gave him his lamictal again.I told the nurse he does not take that at night.

He is very restless and uncomfortable tonight. He keeps asking the nurse and I what time it is. He is being monitored on video like before. I don’t have twenty days I can take off from work and we don’t know what post OP will be like. So this is what we do while we wait for him to have four or five seizures before we go onto round two.