Today was a tough day. A good day in the end, but a tough one. Julie did not sleep a lot last night and was continuing to have some struggles with pain and nausea. I got about (4) 30 minute non-rem "rest" intervals. I'm so tired, I think I could sleep through just about anything - I hope anything includes a person coming in and turning on a light every hour, messing with machines and IVs and poking and prodding my wife.
Early his morning, the anesthesiologist came in and because of her pain level, decided not to remove her epidural (which was supposed to be removed at 6:00am). At 1:30, we met with the surgeon and she decided to have Julie stay in the hospital another day. We also told Julie about the cancer in her lymph node. That was a particularly hard conversation, but Julie handled with grace. About 2:00 they took out the epidural and began converting her to oral pain, nausea and other meds. This is an important step in getting her ready to go home.
We also got her to sit up, gave her a "bath", changed her clothes...all so she could feel human again. She took a short walk. All this was extremely hard on her, but its very important as it helps her body begin to function normally again.
I have seen the inside of a lot of hospitals, seen lots of surgery and recovery. My father, my mother, friends, myself. It takes on a whole different feel when its your wife. She did awesome today.
She is a trooper to be sure. As the doctors said, the first 24 hours are the hardest, and then it slowly gets easier over time. Well, maybe they meant the first 48 hrs...
We expect Julie to be released early afternoon tomorrow. Thank you all for your prayer and support - we don't know what to say or how to properly thank you - just know how grateful we are.
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