Time for walkies

After a fairly restful night, Justin’s room has been abuzz this morning. His surgical team has been by twice and we got our first peek at the incision.

As before, Justin’s heartrate has been slightly elevated and has been running a low-grade fever. Also, his urine output has been lower than ideal. I overheard the surgeon in the hallway say, “his bowels were bursting when we closed him up.” Ugh, hard to hear. However, he went on to tell Justin he felt the swelling was likely at the peak and his body would start letting go of fluid soon.

His diaphragm was largely diseased and they “stripped the protein off” during surgery. As a result, Justin is having lots of hiccups and although his pain is under control, he struggles with those.

He’s still very tired, that’s his biggest complaint. I know he’s anxious to be back and have his sound mind about him, but I keep reminding him the extent of what he has gone through. He’s a hero, definitely mine.

Starting yesterday afternoon, Justin has been vomiting quite a bit. They gave him anti-nausea medication, but that just made him even sleepier. Later in the day Justin refused more medication and indicated it was the stomach drain running up through his throat and out his nose that was causing him to gag and vomit, not nausea. He is trying a throat spray to help numb and hopefully reduce his urge to gag.

His eyes look better today, which I’m thankful. I know he’s frustrated and uncomfortable, but I’m very encouraged by his progress.

The surgical team’s goal for the day is to get up and walk, even if it’s only a few steps. I honestly think this will help him more than anything. He promised the nurse he’d try at noon, so we’ll hold him to it.

Thank you again to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers, and kind words. Love you all!