October 20, 2011

I went over to see Jason early this morning, and decided to go a little earlier than I had in the past, because they have started taking him a little earlier and I keep missing him. Well, I got there and he was in his room, and then we proceeded to wait in his room for almost two hours - so much for my figuring out their schedule. It was good though, as he was asleep when I arrived, so I just let him sleep, and when he woke up (about 15 minutes later) we just talked about some of the things we need to do to plan our trip out to California. There is a bunch of packing we need to do and we need to decided on what goes with us, and what can just be packed up and shipped via slow mode.

Jason went to the PACU and was back again at about 11:15. I was over at the lodge, getting ready to come back over to the hospital when I was called, by Jason, to let me know that he was back. They did the usual dressing changes and then this time they put a little more padding so that he could be a bit more comfortable when he sits up. One of the first things he said to me was that he was hungry and wanted me to just go down to the galley to get some food. I got myself a salad, it was nice as I made it myself, and a nice lunch for Jason. He was happy with what I brought and he said he wanted to get out in his chair shortly after he finished lunch.

We finished lunch and started to get ready to get into his chair. Actually, we're getting much better at this and it moves more quickly, so I don't feel like we're just spinning wheels. I helped him sit up in his bed to do an initial test of his comfort level and he was good. Like I said, they had put more padding on and it looks like it worked. He is still feeling some discomfort with the doaner sites, and he was a little nervous, yet it didn't matter, we were going forward. I got him into his chair and again, he felt some of the tenderness, though it wasn't so much that he didn't want to go. We were out of the room!

We went down to the MATC, after stopping a few times to talk to different folks. Some of the people that have come in the past, had come by to say hello to Jason, and I could tell that Jason was torn because he wanted to talk to them, and he also felt the need to get down to the MATC. We visited for about a minute and then excused ourselves. They understood and we were again moving. In the past I have had to push his chair, because usually we were running a little late. Today, we weren’t under any particular schedule, so Jason pushed the chair on his own. The only time constraint was how long he would be able to remain out and in his chair. We arrived at the MATC and Jason immediately went to the hand crank machine, where he worked it for almost 15 minutes. Then he felt he needed to get back to the room and back in bed – he was uncomfortable.

Once he was back in bed and resituated to where he was comfortable he quickly became more comfortable and I felt much better too. Once he was ready, I called Linda (Jason’s mom) and handed the phone to Jason, so he could talk with her. They talked for about 15 minutes and then Jason needed to get some help from one of the nurses, so he told Mom he would talk to her later. We relaxed some and then he started watching Animal Planet and I started to work with my laptop. The network card didn’t want to work correctly so I finally gave up and told Jason that I needed to get back to the Lodge so I could get some email taken care of. He was okay with that, so I took off to get some emails read and written. Actually I am trying to coordinate a couple of trips we would like to do before we leave, and I need to send the emails out so that plans can be made. Anyway, while at the lodge I am contacted by Bridgette, who had taken off earlier to go pick up her mother, Yvonne, at the airport. Apparently the flight was delayed significantly, and Yvonne didn’t arrive until almost noon. Bridgette then needed to take the girls to get them something to eat. She came back to the base and Fisher House, and put the girls down for a nap, and after they woke she came over to visit with Jason.

Jason did get a chance to speak with Mom today, a couple of times actually. The first time was earlier in the morning, prior to going to the PACU and then again this evening, after Bridgette, Yvonne and the girls had left for the evening. Jason wanted to surprise Mom with a call, and he did. Problem was that she still had some of the day care kids there, so she couldn’t talk very long. I tried to tell her that it was alright, but she’s the mom and therefore it didn’t matter what I said, she felt bad that she couldn’t talk with Jason without the interruptions. Anyway, that was pretty much the end of the day here anyway, so I told Jason I needed to get back to the Lodge, and told him I’d come by in the morning.

Thank you, for all the prayers and support. We’ve been going well over 7 months and we still need the help, so thank you, thank you, thank you and God Bless.