April 23, 2006 (12:01pm)
Well, breathing turns out to be hard work. They have been weaning him off the trache tube, making him do the work of breathing (but with a trache collar through which he gets medicines for his lungs). According to his blood gases he is tolerating it well, but it is definitely fatiguing him. He had said it was okay for a few of his grad students (Brad, Asli – and Robert F. joined in the group) to visit, and the morning visit on Sat. went fine – that was the first time he was on the trache collar – but when they came back for the afternoon visit he was definitely showing signs of wear. They didn’t cause that, let me assure them (heck, if anyone would’ve tired him out, it would’ve been my brother-in-law the previous days (JUST joking, John)).
Gary enjoyed the visit. They brought up a get-well card from the math dept. (which reminds me, I forgot to read it) and a Sudoku (sp?) book. He did the first one after we left that morning. When we came back he said it had been an easy one. Brad told him the challenge was to do it left-handed.
I called Gary’s mom after that visit, filled her in. She told me a story from when he was a kid, when they lived on his grandpa’s farm. She was listening to a local radio station, a call-in program, I guess, and someone started saying something about what a bad mother some boys had because she was letting them play up in some tall trees. The caller described the location, and Gary’s mother said, “That’s OUR area!” She went out and found Gary and some other boys (probably including his trouble-making older brother, Donne) up in some trees – Gary the farthest up. She calmly informed him he needed to come down right now, which he did. She then forbade any of the boys from climbing those trees again. Not sure if she was obeyed. She blames the boys from the town for their bad influence. Personally I would still blame Donne, even if he was nowhere around. He, after all, was the one to get Gary to blow on the rocket fuel in a spoon because they couldn’t get it to ignite. It then did. And Gary practically blew his face off. I’m also betting it was Donne who got Gary to ski off the roof of the barn. He broke his foot that time. Hmm. I suppose I can get sued for libel by Donne now.
After hanging up with his mom, she called me back almost immediately, cautioning me not to let Gary get too tired out with visitors. When I saw Gary at 5:30, he was still tired. The nurse said he was doing well adjusting to the breathing. They roll him on to one side or the other to prevent pressure ulcers, and he is on blood thinners and wearing compression bandages to prevent blood clots from forming. The three students just stopped in that time to give Gary a present – I understand Regina chipped in as well – the first 2 seasons of our favorite TV show, “24.” That should keep us occupied. I informed Gary that Season 3 of Remington Steele had just been released on DVD and I was having it forwarded from our house so we could watch it. He spelled out something, but I’m sure I must have mis-read it. It looked like “Whoop de do.” I can’t imagine why he would say that – he enjoyed watching the full five seasons with me just a year or so ago. I would think it would be even better now that we have it on DVD instead of on tapes of tapes I’ve gotten from various people. I mean, now we can actually see the faces of the actors.
He was too tired for any talk, so I asked him if he wanted me to read to him. He said yes, and between the choices of the paper, Newsweek, and a book, he chose the book, Bob Dylan’s new autobiography. Gary must like it pretty well because the bookmark was more than half-way when I started reading it to him last week. It’s not really my cup of tea tho. Dylan was slightly before my time, so I’m not intrinsically interested in him, and the book strikes me as rather stream of consciousness. The imagery is vivid – I keep wondering, can he really remember what he was wearing on that occasion back in the 60s? what those places and people look like? (Heck, I didn’t even remember we had wallpaper in our kitchen before it was repainted a few weeks ago when that topic came up (the person putting in our new kitchen floor, who had seen our place one time, a month earlier, commented to Gary (I wasn’t there) how nice the repainting job was, that she liked it so much better than the wallpaper. Gary had been impressed she remembered that detail and told me about it, and I said to Gary, “We had wall paper?” Of course, I am the person who when asked if our house was wood or brick had to tell the person I would have to go home and check. I am definitely not a sensate person.) The book reads somewhat like poetry. I’m thinking “beat poetry,” though I don’t know if that is an accurate assessment because I’ve never read any. Perhaps Gary finds the book soothing. I find it confusing.
When I came back at 8:30, Gary was so tired out he didn’t even want me to read to him. In his usual polite way he spelled out, “If you don’t mind, I would just like to sleep.” I think if I were in his position I would be spelling out, “Go away.” Or if I felt wordy, “Go the hell away.” Anyway, I told him no visitors until he’s more perky, and then left. Mom knew best.
I had seen Gary’s neurosurgeon in the morning – the one who kept me waiting around until 1 am Thursday morning for an update on Gary’s surgery and then never showed up. There wasn’t anything new to report, really. Everything is looking good, no complications. They took out the stitches in his back and put in staples (youch!). They’ve taken out the drain he had in his back that he had had in for the surgery. They given him some blood cuz his red blood cells were low, and given him some extra minerals and electrolytes that were a little low.
Okay, that was Saturday. Today, Sunday, I have so far seen him just on the first visit. He is still tired, from the breathing adaptation, which they say is still going well, and it may be that things are catching up to him. For one thing, ICU isn’t very restful, it’s like day all the time. They like to get people out of there ASAP because patients can get “ICU psychosis” because of the lack of REM sleep they get from the constant interruptive activity that goes on – they get tired, cranky, and can even start hallucinating. So far he is just tired. Since I don’t even need one hand to count the number of times I’ve known him to be cranky in 25+ years, that would be noticeable. The nurse told me he is doing so well that they may even move him out of there today. He would go just down the hall. I believe it’s called Trauma and Burn Nursing Unit, but I’ll check on that when he moves. Yep, another change of address.
All for now.
Well, breathing turns out to be hard work. They have been weaning him off the trache tube, making him do the work of breathing (but with a trache collar through which he gets medicines for his lungs). According to his blood gases he is tolerating it well, but it is definitely fatiguing him. He had said it was okay for a few of his grad students (Brad, Asli – and Robert F. joined in the group) to visit, and the morning visit on Sat. went fine – that was the first time he was on the trache collar – but when they came back for the afternoon visit he was definitely showing signs of wear. They didn’t cause that, let me assure them (heck, if anyone would’ve tired him out, it would’ve been my brother-in-law the previous days (JUST joking, John)).
Gary enjoyed the visit. They brought up a get-well card from the math dept. (which reminds me, I forgot to read it) and a Sudoku (sp?) book. He did the first one after we left that morning. When we came back he said it had been an easy one. Brad told him the challenge was to do it left-handed.
I called Gary’s mom after that visit, filled her in. She told me a story from when he was a kid, when they lived on his grandpa’s farm. She was listening to a local radio station, a call-in program, I guess, and someone started saying something about what a bad mother some boys had because she was letting them play up in some tall trees. The caller described the location, and Gary’s mother said, “That’s OUR area!” She went out and found Gary and some other boys (probably including his trouble-making older brother, Donne) up in some trees – Gary the farthest up. She calmly informed him he needed to come down right now, which he did. She then forbade any of the boys from climbing those trees again. Not sure if she was obeyed. She blames the boys from the town for their bad influence. Personally I would still blame Donne, even if he was nowhere around. He, after all, was the one to get Gary to blow on the rocket fuel in a spoon because they couldn’t get it to ignite. It then did. And Gary practically blew his face off. I’m also betting it was Donne who got Gary to ski off the roof of the barn. He broke his foot that time. Hmm. I suppose I can get sued for libel by Donne now.
After hanging up with his mom, she called me back almost immediately, cautioning me not to let Gary get too tired out with visitors. When I saw Gary at 5:30, he was still tired. The nurse said he was doing well adjusting to the breathing. They roll him on to one side or the other to prevent pressure ulcers, and he is on blood thinners and wearing compression bandages to prevent blood clots from forming. The three students just stopped in that time to give Gary a present – I understand Regina chipped in as well – the first 2 seasons of our favorite TV show, “24.” That should keep us occupied. I informed Gary that Season 3 of Remington Steele had just been released on DVD and I was having it forwarded from our house so we could watch it. He spelled out something, but I’m sure I must have mis-read it. It looked like “Whoop de do.” I can’t imagine why he would say that – he enjoyed watching the full five seasons with me just a year or so ago. I would think it would be even better now that we have it on DVD instead of on tapes of tapes I’ve gotten from various people. I mean, now we can actually see the faces of the actors.
He was too tired for any talk, so I asked him if he wanted me to read to him. He said yes, and between the choices of the paper, Newsweek, and a book, he chose the book, Bob Dylan’s new autobiography. Gary must like it pretty well because the bookmark was more than half-way when I started reading it to him last week. It’s not really my cup of tea tho. Dylan was slightly before my time, so I’m not intrinsically interested in him, and the book strikes me as rather stream of consciousness. The imagery is vivid – I keep wondering, can he really remember what he was wearing on that occasion back in the 60s? what those places and people look like? (Heck, I didn’t even remember we had wallpaper in our kitchen before it was repainted a few weeks ago when that topic came up (the person putting in our new kitchen floor, who had seen our place one time, a month earlier, commented to Gary (I wasn’t there) how nice the repainting job was, that she liked it so much better than the wallpaper. Gary had been impressed she remembered that detail and told me about it, and I said to Gary, “We had wall paper?” Of course, I am the person who when asked if our house was wood or brick had to tell the person I would have to go home and check. I am definitely not a sensate person.) The book reads somewhat like poetry. I’m thinking “beat poetry,” though I don’t know if that is an accurate assessment because I’ve never read any. Perhaps Gary finds the book soothing. I find it confusing.
When I came back at 8:30, Gary was so tired out he didn’t even want me to read to him. In his usual polite way he spelled out, “If you don’t mind, I would just like to sleep.” I think if I were in his position I would be spelling out, “Go away.” Or if I felt wordy, “Go the hell away.” Anyway, I told him no visitors until he’s more perky, and then left. Mom knew best.
I had seen Gary’s neurosurgeon in the morning – the one who kept me waiting around until 1 am Thursday morning for an update on Gary’s surgery and then never showed up. There wasn’t anything new to report, really. Everything is looking good, no complications. They took out the stitches in his back and put in staples (youch!). They’ve taken out the drain he had in his back that he had had in for the surgery. They given him some blood cuz his red blood cells were low, and given him some extra minerals and electrolytes that were a little low.
Okay, that was Saturday. Today, Sunday, I have so far seen him just on the first visit. He is still tired, from the breathing adaptation, which they say is still going well, and it may be that things are catching up to him. For one thing, ICU isn’t very restful, it’s like day all the time. They like to get people out of there ASAP because patients can get “ICU psychosis” because of the lack of REM sleep they get from the constant interruptive activity that goes on – they get tired, cranky, and can even start hallucinating. So far he is just tired. Since I don’t even need one hand to count the number of times I’ve known him to be cranky in 25+ years, that would be noticeable. The nurse told me he is doing so well that they may even move him out of there today. He would go just down the hall. I believe it’s called Trauma and Burn Nursing Unit, but I’ll check on that when he moves. Yep, another change of address.
All for now.
posted by Peg Daniels at 10:51 AM
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