Day 2

Day 2 has been tough for Charlie.  He has been in pain pretty much all day.  He tried getting up twice and it caused more pain both times.  He walked a little bit on the first go.  The second try he went to the bathroom and sat in a chair for a bit.  The second time they wanted him to sit in the chair until Dr. Al-Mefty came around.  Apparently he REALLY wants to see his patients sitting on the 2nd day.  Well when he finally showed up, Charlie was back in bed.  He had sat in the chair for a half hour, even though it was really painful and he kept asking to get back into bed.  The doctor wasn't pleased, but there was me and 3 nurses telling him, he WAS up, he DID walk, he was sitting waiting for you, but he's in too much pain!  He babbled on about needing to get up and walking and sitting.  I understand he's just trying to keep Charlie safe.  If he stays laying in bed too long, he could get pneumonia or blood clots and of course we don't want that!  But still it's tough for him because his head hurts so much.
A while after we saw the doctor, his partner came by.  We had spoke with him in pre-op last week, and he kind of helped explain things better than dr al-mefty had.  He stopped by to check in on Charles and asked about his pain.  He said as long as it stays consistantly the jaw and on the right side then it was OK and expected.  But if it changes, becomes stabbing, or starts hurting the rest of his head then it could be an indication of something being wrong.   No one mentioned when he should go home.  I definitely don't see him getting out in the morning at least.  Maybe if he does really well he will get out tomorrow evening, if not, probably Friday morning.

He has moved out of the NICU and up to a regular room.  He's been asleep pretty much the whole time since he has moved.  He was given some more codeine about a half hour after he arrived and has been conked out since then, so that's nice.  It's late. no one is going to be bugging him to do anything tonight so the more rest he gets the better and hopefully he will feel up to doing a bit more in the morning.

We had some other visitors today.  Dr. Samuels stopped by and checked in on him.  He said he was very happy with how Charles was doing, and said that his mother sure does talk!  He mentioned having her for dinner and Charles said "I bet she tasted bad."  Haha.  Apparently Suzanne and Susie have been having a lovely time catching up, so that's nice!  It's good to have something to relax her a little bit, she has had such a stressful summer!

We also got a visit from Dr. Prasad the neuro-opthalmologist.  Charlie saw him for an exam this summer, and had been scheduled to see him for a follow up next week.  He wasn't around last week when Charlie needed a pre-op eye appt, so Dr. Prasad wasn't able to do it.  He had checked in on his case and was happy to see that his eye sight hadn't gotten any worse.  He said that he had been very cautious and worried because his concern was the eye sight and that the surgery was very risky and could have lead to worse problems with his sight.  So he was very relieved that the surgery had gone so well.

Nurse Gerry stopped by for a visit today too, which I thought was very nice.  He was around last night when Charlie was in the worst pain, and was very relieved to have found out that his night was actually fairly calm, he was worried he would have a rough night.  I also explained to him what the doctor had told me about why they didn't want him taking pain meds, and he appreciated that. 

His night nurse was Jody who was nice, and his nurse today was Jean Anne who was also great.  His nurse right now is Tracey and she seems pretty awesome, too bad she's going to be off shift soon, let's hope his overnight nurse is great as well!

It's almost 9 and no one has said anything to me about visiting hours or leaving...  I know before they were like well you need to talk to the overnight nurse, so Tracey might be just leaving me be since I'm not causing any problems.  Or maybe the NICU nurses told them I'd want to stay, I'm not sure.  I haven't mentioned anything because I don't want to be told I have to leave, haha.  Even though it would probably be smart to find out and make arrangements if I need to leave...  I've got a high back chair, a pillow, and a chair to rest my feet on... I'm actually fairly comfortable... I could probably spend the night here OK if I needed to.  I don't think I'd sleep GREAT but I probably wouldn't sleep much better not being here.  We'll see!  Who knows what will happen.

I'm happy that his roommate doesn't seem to be so lousy this time.  He's an older man who just had a stroke.  His middle aged daughters and wife were here when we arrived, they were all very polite and left about an hour ago.  He has been pretty quiet.  I did hear them discuss that he had problems sleeping... so I'm not sure if that might be a reason that they may make me leave... but he's been quiet and not watching TV loudly or talking to anyone, so that's good with us!  He's not obnoxious or smelly, so THAT's good!  They might make me leave due to old man privacy issues... we'll see, like I said.... wish me luck!  I'm kind of just winging it at this point...  because I'm content with where I am right now.  If Charlie needs me, I am right here where I am supposed to be.