Tom, With and Without Morphine

As you can see from these photos, Tom has had a rough time of it today. The picture on the top is Tom without his epidural and prior to IV morphine drip. Doesn't he look agonized?? The photo on the bottom was taken about 5 minutes after his first serious morphine infusion. AAAHhhhhhhh. Much much better. Actually, the picture on the top is something of a lie. He didn't have any pain meds there, but the look on his face was induced by watching old DVDs of the Honeymooners, and this was during the episode called Sleepwalkers in which Norton sleepwalks and Ralph has to try to follow him, slipping on banana peels and hiding the apartment key. But the second photo really is of him on drugs. No fried egg reference necessary.

A Very Rough Day, Pain Threshold Tested, and Stretched!!!

Tom called this morning saying he was in tremendous pain. Turns out that 2 things happened. First in the night his bladder catheter became kinked and then flow ceased and things got full and pressed on his internal incision (Ouch) which made him restless in the night which made him wiggle which made him RIP OUT his epidural!!!!!!!! 

Problem is, the only person who can evaluate an epidural is the anesthesiologist, not a nurse and not a surgeon and not any of the other doctors, and apparently anesthesiologists don't work til 3 on Fridays. He had no pain medication of any kind until now (not even yet and its 6:30) and no one even evaluated his situation until 5, so he not only had no help, he had no sympathy either, and the regular staff was off and the new nurses weren't very kind to him (because they thought he was a drug-seeking whiner with an epidural) but instead her was really and truly suffering in a huge way. 

The fact that he's been 4 days without a shave or shower doesn't help either. 

Finally the anesthesiologist came and said, "oops, my bad," Well, actually, "oops, your bad." but too bad for tom, because now that its out, even one day early, they won't put it back in, and his pain free days are over.

Don't feel too sorry for him, however, well, feel very sorry for him for today, but don't feel too sorry for him for tonight, because he is about to get an IV morphine drip, so any time tonight or tomorrow will be a good time to call and ask him all those deeply probing questions you always wanted to ask, and to get him to sign all kinds of legal documents giving away his possessions and guaranteeing the hire of all your friends who wish to apply to the School District of Haverford Township.

They unkinked his pee tube earlier today, so no overflow. 

AND one piece of good news, he has belly sounds and they took out his nose tube! He looks pretty good, but there is a red spot on the tip of his schnoz where the tape was, so now her really is the the Red-Nosed Rudolph.

More to follow. Please keep those calls and visits coming, its getting hard for him to be here now, and you know, tomorrow is his 54th birthday. It'd be a great time to inundate him with phone calls, since he has no internet.

HE STANDS!!!!

This is Tom doing his Underdog impersonation. He was hoping to fly away, but had to stroll instead. There will be a video of him walking in a bit. He was a little tippy at first, but then he stabilized himself.

Tom Practices Sitting Still (does he look like he's conducting?)

The lesson for all of us, that I didn't post below...

Turns out that if Tom had delayed on his colonoscopy to the 5 years the insurance company had suggested or even until after his winter concerts and Australia trip he would have had a much larger and more serious situation to deal with. The lesson? Information is GOOD, and swift informed action saves lives.

Enough preaching, already, I know....

Even MORE Good News, with a lesson for the rest of us.

The oncology results are in!!!! Both spots in Tom's colon were cancerous, AND they were both completely contained within the intestinal walls!!!!! He is cured, by a knife. Dr. McCoy would say, "Jim, they were just savages back in the 21st century, slicing people open to take things out." But we are all darn grateful for this primitive technology and excellent sewing skills of the good Dr. Silver.

I am in the hospital now, he still has that numb leg thing going on, but he is sitting in a chair and reports that he is starving. Its really funny, today's nurse (not the lovely Vicky, but a similarly spunky Caroline) told Tom that of course she will have him up walking today, but by degrees. First he gets to practice sitting in a chair for an hour. I just love the thought of Tom sitting still in a chair for an hour. Actually, this will finish redistributing the epidural meds so he can have pain control and motor control simultaneously. He plans to walk over to see his dad this afternoon.

He still has his elephant tube, gets a new dressing today, so maybe I'll be here when they do it so I can see if he actually had surgery or if this is a sneaky new Weight Watchers Thanksgiving prep where he fasts for 4 days under doctors' care and then gets to eat everything he wants while maintaining his lifetime membership weight range.

More after the walk.