Out of ICU!!!

Troy finally made it out of ICU and into a room at 2:00 this afternoon. He's doing well, just tired and uncomfortable. They are still keeping his pain managed pretty well. He's sitting up in a chair and tomorrow will begin taking short walks. I am so proud of the way he has handled this so far. He's a wonderful, strong man and that makes me feel better and I'm confident that he will recover quickly.

We just saw an ENT doc because there was some temporary damage to Troy's left vocal chord during the surgery. As a result he can only talk in a whisper. They want to correct it surgically on Friday. It will be a relatively (compared to what he has been through) minor procedure, but it will mean anesthesia and surgery so that they can inject something into his vocal chord. The doc was confident that this is a temporary and easily corrected problem. There is a chance that this will change his voice so obviously we are a little anxious about that.

This evening his doctors all consulted each other and decided to insert a device called a Vena Cava Filter into his femoral vein (the large vein in the groin area). This will prevent the blood clot that they found from dislodging and going into his lungs, which could be fatal. The procedure was fairly simple but all the moving around had Troy feeling kinda rotten this evening. The other positive is that he won't have to give himself those blood thinner shots in his stomach. We really think that those shots are what have had him feeling so bad over the last week and a half.

We have been counting each tube, line or IV that is attached and there are at least 8 of them coming out of everywhere. Even out of places that didn't have holes for tubes and lines before yesterday! They have begun the slow process of removing them one by one, depending on the function of each one. There were IVs in each arm this morning - those are now gone. The only IV is the central line in his chest. He also got rid of the horrible NG tube that was draining his stomach through his nose. That one was a real pain (literally!). So - three down. The catheter is really bugging him, but they won't remove that one until they remove the epidural. The epidural is one of the things that is keeping him from being in excruciating pain. He doesn't like the catheter, but it's a trade off that he's willing to make at the moment!

It's been an exhausting couple of days, so I think I better get this posted and try to get some sleep! ----- Goodnight!

I know not what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. ~Author Unknown