Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Day 2

This has been an "interesting" day.

Both Master and T were taken for a GI scan early this morning. T's came back good, and she's cleared for clear liquids. She is off the IV morphine, and has had no additional pain medication since about noon. No more catheter either, and that surely makes her happy. She's been walking all over the place and really doing very well. She isvery tired this evening, but then, we all are. Hopefully, she'll get a better night's rest tonight.

Master's day has been more problematic. They worked for much longer to try and get His GI tract X-rayed, and just could not get the contrast medium to pass through. They had to come back a couple of hours later in the day and take another shot, and then later, they took Him back and did more X-rays AND a CAT scan. Finally, at about 5PM, they decided that all the connections are fine, and that the flow through the system is as it should be. There seems to be trouble with His bowels; they are in some sort of post-surgical shock which is preventing materials from being passed on through as they should be. At one point, in the early evening, they contemplated entubating Him as an approach to relieving some of the internal pressure, but they opted out of that and are simply allowing things to follow a natural course. He is uncomfortable with lots of intestinal gas and cramping. He's also still dealing with some significant nausea. He too, is off the catheter, so that is some progress.

We are all doing pretty well. Things are moving along. Thank you for all the good thoughts. It really is very encouraging to all of us.

swan

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a nurse, I know that anesthesia can do funky things to your intestines....it's why they want you to move...ask if you are "passing gas"...a good thing.... etc.. I am not in any way current on bariatric surgury...not my area of expertise...but I can venture to say the more you move..walk...etc the better for numerous reasons...

You are all in my thoughts daily.. and are to be commended for allowing us to follow you through this journey...

My very best to you three...

Karen

morningstar said...

i am glad to hear t is moving along so well... as well as saddened to hear Raheretic's recovery is a little slower... but even baby steps forward are a good thing...

give t and Raheretic a big hug from me...

morningstar (owned by Warren)

selkie said...

early days yet... amazed at T - what a trooper! And your Master sounds like he is doing fine, even if his recovery isn't quite as straightforward.

I am so glad it is over - from here on in it can ONLY get better.

Still cheering here on the sidelines.

and swan, are you taking care of YOU??? are you eating? drinking lots of water? getting some REST??

Anonymous said...

Poor Tom - sounds like a very tough day (gotta find out what he wants me to call him!). Please send him a warm pat. That T., whatta girl! Just slap her on the back and give her an atta girl! And you, Swan... if I could, I would make you a nice cup of tea, and rub your shoulders for a moment. I bet they ache. Tomorrow, I'm sure will be an easier day..

Anonymous said...

I think there was some research done just a little while ago that suggested that chewing gum (of all things) really helped the digestive system recover after surgery.
It sounds daft but the science is good - chewing creates enzymes which tell the body that food is on it's way which kick starts the peristalses in the gut and gets things moving.

Wishing you all weller xx
ML