Day 1 - Post Bypass Surgery

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a picture of my beautiful Valentine! He kinda looks like he partied all night like a rock star, doesn't he? Or maybe more like Rocky Balboa after a big fight. Either way, I think he's beautiful!

As you can see, he's got amazing coordination with his right hand. He's using a swab to wet his mouth because he hasn't yet had a swallow test to determine whether he can have anything to drink yet -- he's very parched! He has also been quite active with his left arm, although he doesn't have the strength to quite get things up to his face. He keeps reaching up with his right hand to touch his goatee and his swollen left eye. The eye is swollen because of removing the artery from that left temple. He can still move his legs around a bit, although his right side again seems considerably stronger. For now, his arms are moving with much more ease than his legs, but at least everything is moving! It's surprising that the right side is stronger than the left because when you mess with the brain, it is usually the opposite side that is more affected ... maybe because that thrombosis is still causing trouble on that right side ??? Another question for Dr. Spetzler. Jimmy hasn't been able to mouth any words for me today, so I'm giving him a rain check on his Valentine's gift to me ... I wanted him to sing "Brown Eyed Girl" to me. I think I'm getting pretty good at this patience thing! He was able to pucker up and give me some kisses though, so I am satisfied. They plan to do a swallow evaluation on him tomorrow. I did see him take a couple of swallows when he was swabbing his mouth, and he did give a slight cough once, so I am hopeful that he hasn't regressed too terribly far. Overall, his strength and coordination are a little weaker than right after surgery, but I expected the first few days to be that way, and the doctors don't seem at all concerned.

Jim did get taken off the ventilator this afternoon, and he's doing great on his breathing. Once he looks like he's trying to speak, they will put his speaking valve in and give it a go. I'm hoping that he's a little more wakeful tomorrow, and we can encourage him to give that a try. He also had a CT angiogram this evening. Depending on how the bypass looks on that scan, they plan to do his coil on either Monday or Thursday -- not sure what's wrong with Tuesday or Wednesday, but maybe they figure that if he's not ready for it on Monday it would be a good idea to give it a few more days. Another question for Dr. Spetzler!

My Jimmy did get a little rambunctious today. He likes to pull at tubes, as we found out five years ago, so they decided to put him in restraints when he is unattended. I thought it was cute that the nurse described them to Jim as "reminders" to leave everything alone. He hates them already! I have a feeling that he's not going to be the perfect patient -- oh well, I can be just as bullheaded as him if I need to be!

Overall, it was a very good day. Jim seems pretty relaxed and not in too much pain. He did point to his left wrist to ask what time it was late this afternoon, so I think he's starting to get more aware of his surroundings. He definitely recognizes all of us and points at the kids and gives them the 'thumbs up' when they come in. He also waves good-bye to us when we leave or he wants us to leave him alone. He's pretty amazing, if you ask me!

I wasn't able to read him all your emails, texts, blog comments, or facebook walls yet as he didn't seem overly interested today. I will save them for when he's feeling better though, because I know how much they all mean to him; and he's definitely going to need more encouragement in the days ahead! So keep him in your prayers, and pray that he doesn't run into any major complications. I haven't heard how our 'pipeline gentleman' is doing lately, but I will let you all know if I hear anything more. I am continuing to pray for his recovery and hope you are too. I hope to have good news on the CT angio tomorrow -- it would be great to keep the ball rolling and have the coil put in on Monday. I'm a little nervous about getting too optimistic too soon, but I am pleased with how well he appears to be doing so far. Thank you so much for the continued support. I know it's been a long time, and it's bound to be longer yet, but I hope you can all stay with us. It really does help!

It's been very nice having the kids here. The boys did drag me and Sandy out to celebrate for a little while -- it felt really good to do something normal ... even if we did spend the whole night talking about Jimmy!! Jenna chose to catch up on some homework and ordered pizza in -- what a good girl! We are staying in at the hotel tonight and ordering takeout from somewhere to be determined. The boys want to watch the NBA slam dunk contest on TV. They dragged me to the diner across the street for lunch -- I can't believe I'm going to go a whole day without hospital food! I figure that the kids need a little quality time from their mom, and Jim will probably be sacking out pretty early again tonight. He can have my undivided attention again starting tomorrow. Speaking of which, we're all heading back to join Ricky who's with him while I'm writing this -- he just called to let us know that he's awake. So, "good-bye" for now. Enjoy your special evening with your sweethearts!

Love,
Krissy

P.S. If you're a procrastinator and haven't made plans for this evening yet, the MLC Band is playing at the Lookout in Maple Grove tonight. They promised to dedicate "Brown Eyed Girl" to Jimmy -- so all the girls on the dance floor!!!