Hospital Post 10

I just wrote this post and as I was about to hit 'publish,' I somehow deleted it and couldn't get it back fast enough and now I have to start over.  So this post begins with irritation at myself.


The surgeon blew by around 3:30 but did not have much information that we didn't have already.  He explained the bowel function problem as a percocet circularity problem:  you use the percocet for the surgery pain, but it also tends to cause constipation which, over time, causes more pain, so you take more percocet, so you get more constipation, voila the circle.  So, now on to Tordal (?) and atavan.  As he blew back out of the room, he told Ed to 'try to stay away from the percocet,' as if Ed were keeping a stash back in his briefcase.  He also said that the liver biopsy provided no new and hopeful information (we were thinking it would?), and that Ed could stay as long as he needed to, but thought tomorrow might be better and a possible discharge.  We are awaiting the return of the bowel function for discharge as I understand his somewhat cryptic messages.


The surgeon is really OK; it's just that he's a member of the surgeon class,  and it's probably a straight forward tradeoff for the most part.  Because they are the kind of people they are, they can do the kind of things they can do.


Ed has taken three good walks with me today and then took another one on his own, confident of his steadiness.  And he ate lunch, but passed on breakfast and dinner, just feeling unable to take on any more solid food.  He's better than he was when I left last night, and much better than this morning: stronger, more energy, better voice strength.  He's gotten some sleep during the day.  If the tordol can manage the pain, he's in good straights.  


But now the nurse has given the tordol, but is waiting until later (for what?  not clear? to see if the tordol is sufficient?) before giving the atavan.  the atavan, he says, tends to put some people to sleep.  this would be bad?  A little later in the evening would be better, he says.  I am not filled with confidence with his explanations.  His problem is that he is not able to explain things well.  There may be some perfectly good explanation for it, but words are not his specialty (he has a tattoo of a skull on a band on his upper arm: maybe he could draw a picture for us?  maybe he could wear a ruffle on his sleeve, or try a long-sleeved t-shirt?  Maybe there should be a dress code for this sort of thing:  call the ethics committee, quick!)


I took a little drive around Bellingham this late afternoon to buy some rubber bands for our hair.  They took Ed's away during surgery because it had metal in it (and where did it go?  I know not.  And I forgot to bring mine for braiding purposes at night.  So now we have rubber bands and Ed has chewing gum, which one study showed improved bowel function time.  And I've seen that Bellingham's closest mall has been devastated by the downturn. Empty, most of the places I knew.  But Bellingham has many,many malls, so probably it is not as bad everywhere.  Just my luck to know the not-so-lucky mall.  And here it is Friday night, and while the FDIC is out closing community banks, I'm going to push the publish button before I lose this post again.