The Day After

Don had his Hickman Catheter inserted yesterday. The procedure itself wasn't long (about 1/2 hour), and time in the recovery room was only about an hour. They couldn't order the medication vials until the surgery was completed, so as soon as Don got into the recovery room, our attending nurse called the pharmacist. We expected the meds to arrive in an hour to 1 1/2 hours. Then, I was to inject Don with the meds, they were going to watch him for 3 hours, and we would come home. It was going to be a long, long day. Both Dondra and Jeff came to the hospital to spend the day with us, and we absolutely loved spending the exclusive time with them. As it turned out, we sat and waited about 3 to 3 1/2 hours for the meds to arrive. Jeff and Dondra left to come home about 4:15, and the meds arrived about 4:30. I injected Don. Everything went well. The nurse made us stay until almost 6 p.m., then decided we could come on home.

The evening was uncomfortable for Don. He could feel where the tube was inserted in his jugular vein, and every time he tried to turn his head it would pull. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible for the night. This morning, when he got up, he was a new man. It's not bothering him much at all today. I'm so thankful, because I hate to see him suffer. He isn't a big complainer, so I know, when he does complain, that he has taken things about as long as he can. It's been a good day. We picked up Mom and ran around a bit, and he has done well.

I did my first injection of the meds totally on my own this morning, and things went quite smoothly. Hurray! . . . and they all lived happily ever after!