Saturday

Today started out great. We both had a restful night and when they woke us up at 4:30 this morning Troy was feeling good. I know there is probably a very good reason, but I have yet to figure out why he needs to be weighed at 4:30 am. I can understand the blood pressure, blood sugar, temperature, even the lab work, but he has to get out of bed and step onto the scale to be weighed. It's not so bad now that he is several days post surgery, but it was difficult the first few days after surgery, seems crazy! I know they keep a close eye on his weight to judge the amount of fluid that is retained. Anyway, just one of those fun things about being in the hospital.

They removed him from the IV fluids which resulted in getting rid of one of those big boxes on his IV pole. It didn't really get rid of any lines connected to him, but it just seems better to have one less thing to deal with. They also removed him from the oxygen today. That's another tube gone - yippee! Today's struggles are not talking and dealing with the catheter. He can't wait to get rid of that particular tube - for obvious reasons.

Troy decided that he felt good enough to get up and shave and have a quick sponge bath. It was his first time in the bathroom so that was an accomplishment. He shaved and washed up and still felt so good that we gathered up all the apparatuses (or would it be apparati? - no, according to spell check it would be apparatuses) and took a walk around the halls. We did the same thing again around 9:00 am. Just look at the difference a few days has made.

Everyone is very pleased with Troy's progress. He is doing great and his surgeon expects the Barium Swallow Test on Monday to go well. I sure hope so because that is the target for removing the chest tube, it's also when he will start to be able to swallow some liquids. It will stay in place until they are certain that there is no leak in the anastomosis (that's where they sew the stomach to the throat).

It's really interesting how many doctors are involved in Troy's care. There's the surgeon, oncologist, internist, otoloaryngolist (for his vocal chord), anestiologist (in charge of his pain management). The nurses and physician's assistants have been great as well. I can't say it enough - I'm so glad we chose to get Troy's treatment here at Methodist Hospital. What a great organization. I'm amazed that they can operate as smoothly as they do.

Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death. ~Author Unknown