June 11, 2012 - Back in the hospital again

I was hoping to start this post off with a little levity, and I'm sorry to say that isn't going to happen this time. Linda and I got home at about 22:15, and to be quite honest, we were tired after that 3-hour drive. We had had a great time up with David and Miriam and expected to continue to have a great week with Jason and the girls. So we went to sleep about 23:00. Apparently, right after we went to bed, Jason started experiencing some pain and discomfort. It was kind of a different pain, and he thought he could just "will" his way through it, with the help of some of the extra pain meds. The extra meds did help some, by taking the "edge" off, and he tried to get comfortable; then, he called me at just after 01:00 this morning. Since I went to bed tired, and only had a couple of hours of sleep, I didn't wake up on the first ring of the phone. In fact, I remember looking at the cell  phone and thinking, "Why is it making all that noise?" and then realized it was ringing. Jason told me he was not feeling well, and there was an elevated pain level - he needed to get to the ER. I asked him if he wanted me to call an ambulance and he said no. Actually, he was right, if we had called, by the time it had gotten to the house and they got him to the hospital, it would have been about the same amount of time that I took to get ready and drive him there. Fortunately Linda was with us, so she was able to stay with the girls, who were still sound asleep, and we would just come back as soon as we could.

We spent almost 10 hours in the ER. Jason was running a fever that was elevated enough that the medical staff was concerned. He was sweating profusely, and as such, he was drinking a lot of water. Because of his history they immediately put an IV drip on him, with fluids, to help keep him for dehydrating. This all took place in a matter of just a few minutes, and then they started to focus on his pain. They gave him enough of the IV pain med that his level came back down quickly and he was relatively comfortable. They also drew some blood so tests could be done, and then set him up for some X-rays. Once all that was done it was just a matter of waiting. Both of us were tired, only Jason was laying down and that made it a little easier for him to sleep. I was able to catch a little "cat-nap" here and there, but sleep was not a luxury for me this early morning visit. I think maybe the cat-naps totaled up to 20 minutes of some rest, and the ER (and most of the hospital) has terrible cell phone reception, so any communications was done when I was able to walk out of the ER for a few minutes and make phone calls, or text messages.

Finally, at about 10:00 this morning, we were given the message that they were going to have Jason admitted to the hospital. I was sorry to hear this, because it meant the infection was something they were concerned about, as well as the pain management; and, I was glad to hear it, because I was running on very little sleep, and I was really tired. I got Jason's chair back to the van and ultimately back to the house, while he was being entered into his room. At first I was told he was now in the original room he had, when first at Balboa, then found out it was right next to it. Actually, he had been in this room before, too. I went to the house to help Linda with the girls, and to find out how they were doing. By now I had caught that, "second wind," and was feeling a little better, so with this we headed back over to the Naval base to meet with CMDR Ledyard, who had been wanting to finally meet Linda, and Linda was wanting to meet her. It was a nice meeting, as we also had lunch while we were there. The girls thought it was great fun, and when we were done eating it was now time for them to take a nap too.  I went back to the house and in a matter of just a few minutes I was down and slept for a few hours. Linda got to take a little nap too, after she got the girls down. I was woken again by the phone ringing. Not just once, but several times so I finally got back up around 15:30. There were a number of phone calls and conversations that had to take place, and it all took up most of the day. Finally tonight we fed the girls dinner and then took them over to see Daddy, and to allow them to tell him good night.

Jason is a contact patient (again) so we had to "suit up" before going in, and though they have done it before, it seemed like it was a new experience for the girls. We stayed for a short visit and then turned around and headed back to the house. The girls got a bath (Thank you, Grandma) and then were put to bed and then Linda and I were able to relax a little, and I was able to write this blog. Thank you, for all your continued prayers and all the continued support, it is appreciated.  Jason is going to get through this (as will we), we have faith that God is directing all this for his success.