Days 5 & 6

Joel is getting better day by day but progress is still slow. He was able to get up and take a few steps down the hall on Tuesday night. Pain is still an issue. Nothing seems to work and Joel is getting real tired of being in pain. The epidural worked for a couple days but it stopped working and they switched to a morphine drip which didn't work that well. They took the catheter out and all the IV's so now Joel is on oral meds and they didn't help at first either and Joel had to get something stronger. Just doesn't make sense that someone should have to be in such pain for days before getting the right script but it then again I think the meds work as long as he doesn't move. So if he could just be a statue life would be swell. I decided Wednesday night was my last night at the hospital because Joel was over a hump and I needed to get back to work and the kids needed to be at "my home" as Ty says.

Post Op Day 3 & 4

Sorry I didn't get on to update yesterday but I got out of the hospital for a little while and spent some time with the kids and Joel got moved back to the regular floor. Yesterday the Dr's thought Joel might have fluid on his lungs but I have yet to get a confirmation on that. His incision was a little red and looking like it might have an infection but they were just going to keep an eye on it. I couldn't stay last night since he was in a double room. One of the Dr's came around later in the afternoon yesterday and told Joel he had to get up 2 times and he wanted him walking. Joel did very well. The first time was rough and he needed assistance standing but around 10pm he got up again and took 2 baby steps. Dr was there watching so the pressure was on. I stayed till almost midnight and Joel was sad when I left for home.



Day 4 had a rough start. I didn't get in bed till almost 2 am and had the alarm set for 5:30am. I hit snooze till 6 and finally got up and got into the shower then headed out the door to my moms house where Gage and Ty have been staying. I nursed Gage and headed out the door with Ty and dropped him at school on my way back to the hospital. Joel had a really rough day yesterday so I called into work today. I know it sounds weird but I get so much more rest when I sleep in the chair bed at the hospital. Joel had a really slow start this morning. He started coughing this morning and I started coughing this afternoon so it sounds like we are both getting sick. Coughing is causing Joel tremendous amounts of pain so I hope they can get him something to keep it under control. Joel got his own room again so looks like I will be staying with him tonight. I know that relaxed him a little. He has had wonderful care for the most part but last night be had a nurse that wasn't so good and he was in pain most of the night so he got no rest. I am glad I will be here tonight to help out if needed.

The Dr came in this afternoon and removed a couple staples in 2 different places along the incision line that runs up Joel's belly. The wound was a little red and seemed to be infected. She packed the open area with gauze and hopefully this will help it heal. Joel has been in pain most of the day since the staples were removed and all the coughing. He was also moved off his bed to go get a chest x-ray and also check his legs for clots. It's been a busy day and 1pm rolled around and he still hadn't gotten out of bed. I had a little chat with him and he finally got up and stayed up for over 10 minutes. No walking yet but it gave the aid a chance to change his linens and I washed him up and changed his gown. He always looks better after he gets up and I am sure he feels better with fresh bedding. I had a chat with the nurse because Joel was eating and she got him to eat 4-5 bites of lunch and 4-5 bites of dinner. It's a start. He's sleeping now so I got a couple minutes on the computer but I am going to go get some rest now.

Surgery #2

I was waiting to post today in hopes that we would have good news. Joel's fluid output had not been good for the last day. He pretty much was not going to the bathroom. We were lucky enough to be moved to a private room so that I could stay with him late Saturday night but first thing Sunday morning the Dr team started running tests since Joel had very little output and before noon he was moved to the ICU unit so that they could give him more specialized care. After a long array of different tests they decided around 3 to take him in for another surgery. They were pretty sure that fluid was bot leaking into his abdomen thru a hole of some sort so they decided to go in and insert a couple of stints between his kidney and bladder. I hated to see Joel go into surgery again but I was hoping this would make him better because he was not looking good.

The 2nd surgery went well and Joel was back in his room about 3 hours later. The ICU is a great place, the nurses on the regular floors just don't have enough time to spend with each patient. Bare minimum usually is all they have time for. It's not their fault, they are just assigned too many patients. In the ICU, Joel has had around the clock care and he is looking so much better. He hasnt gotten up since about 9 this morning due to the busy day, I am hoping he agrees to get up at least for a couple minutes tonight. I meant to go home tonight to take a shower and come back but I fell asleep in the chair around 9 and just woke up. Maybe I'll head home in the morning for a few minutes after the Dr's make their rounds about 5 am.

Thank you

To all our friends and family for constantly keeping us in their thoughts and prayers. We are so lucky to be surrounded by such amazing people.

The next day

I came back to the hospital this morning and Joel had developed a fever since I left last night. They started him on Tylenol to try and bring it down but its continued throughout the day and is actually increasing slowly. They say that Joel getting up and walking more will also help. It is really important Joel gets up and moving and he did get up tonight. If he doesn't get up and walk around a couple of times a day there is more risk for infection, pneumonia, and blood clots. Not something you want to hear but the Dr said that the first 3-4 days after the surgery are actually more critical than the surgery itself. Joel was fighting getting up and I shared with him exactly what the Dr told me and he hasn't complained since then. Joel says that once he's up that he's fine but the getting up is the hard part. He won't be able to sit on his bottom or lay on his back for a couple of months...ugh so hard already. Joel has to lay on his side with pillows propping him up and flip every2 hours. He hates this but it has to be done. I give such credit to all the nurses here at U of M. They are AWESOME!!! They make all you are going thru is so much easier. We have been lucky so far and have had a few really good ones. Joel's roommate was discharged tonight and so I am able to stay in his room. I have one of those fold-out chairs that Dad's sleep on in labor & delivery. Not like home, but at least I will rest a little tonight.

Joel's Surgery

Joel was out of surgery at approx 7:30, I just can't keep all the times straight. I guess the 6 hours must have included recovery time. We talked to the surgeon and she said the surgery went very well. There was considerable shrinkage of the tumor from the radiation with only an average amount of scar tissue. I think I remember her saying the tumor was almost 4 inches long at one of the appointments and she said when she removed it that it was about the size of a golf ball which means probably about half. She also said that after inspecting all the surrounding organs that she saw no metastasis (spread). The cancer was in his lymph nodes though so he will still be having about 4-6 more months of chemo to make sure there's no stray cancer cells floating around in his blood stream. Joel was taken up to his room and he settled in at approx 9:30.

Joel was in and out for the rest of the night and I stayed with him till about 1:30 am but then I had to leave since he had a roommate. I requested him to be wait listed for a private room so I could stay with him. We'll see how that goes. All was going well went I left and Joel was trying to rest though he really wasn't sleeping.

Long Day Already

Its approx 5pm and Joel was taken back for surgery at approx 3:15. I thought the surgery was at 4 but it was actually supposed to be at 2pm but they always run late or so the nurse said. Joel's surgery is supposed to take approx 6 hours but it could be midnight before he's out of recovery and I get to see him. Christine, Joel's mom and her boyfriend Mike and I just had lunch/dinner in the cafeteria. Now we wait.