Dale and the Big Angry Spleen

Hope all is well with everyone. We had our post op visit with the surgeon (it will be three weeks this Wednesday). He said all appears to be healing well.  He asked if I was eating....Kathy answered before I could "HE IS EATING!" 😊 Kathy finally got to ask her question of why the surgery went so quickly (a little over an hour) instead of the 3-5 hours they had predicted. The doctor explained that the images they viewed (ultrasound etc.) before surgery all looked pretty bad. The spleen was so big they were worried that it might have been cancer that had left the spleen and created adhesions (attached) to other organs etc..  When that happens it gets real complicated having to separate and  seal  everything  off   . Fortunately it didn't happen that way for us. Still waiting on the pathology report.

Of course, first I would like to thank everyone for all the love, encouragement and prayers. It's been an interesting past few days. After some steady progress I had a few days of backsliding.  Wasn't sleeping (that increased pain), sneezed a few times (that increased pain), temporarily went back on the opioid painkillers (that messed other things up and contributed to less sleep). Yesterday I decided to toughen it out without the aid of the narcotics so I could take advantage of some meds to help me sleep. Turned out to be the right decision. Except for a brief awakening at 1:30 am (with an intense craving for pizza) I managed to sleep until 8:00 am. Much improved. Hopefully the two naps I took today won't interfere with tonight's sleep. Nurse Kathy has been cautioning me I've been pushing too hard. Probably correct as usual 😊 So far my biggest challenges have been the pain, sleep and my lack of patience. On a side note.....I'm turning into my son. Ever since ...

 Dale here...Formally known as 'Dale with the Big Angry Spleen Dale'. GONE!! My first at home post! Words cannot describe how happy I am to be home with two of my beautiful loves...Nurse Kathy ❤ and my beautiful pup (canine love of my life) Tikka (my other three loves Erik, in Texas and  Elyse and Anava,  6000 miles away, ❤❤❤ Erik has gone home and I miss him already. He was a fantastic help to both Kathy and I.  Kathy misses our banter (as do I) but I also miss all the red meat he brought home to help me heal. I'm getting better daily, long conversations still wear me out, but I am increasing my walking daily. Surgery pain is subsidizing nicely (nine inch incision), now the  Evil Healing Itch is driving me crazy (any guy that has had chest/abdominal surgery understands). Had our first visit with my Beaumont hematologist/oncologist Thursday. He appears optimistic. My platelets are up to normal range, White blood count is also. Big relief. I ...

 The patient has been discharged and is home resting!

Apologies for my lack of reporting over the past day or so.  I hit the wall of exhaustion. Today I am back at it and operating on a full charge. Now, on to the patient. Dale has been making great progress. He has been walking, doing laps around the floor and making friends along the way. I envy his ability to talk to people-strangers-anyone. One of the many things I love about him. He is increasingly his pace and number of laps. Go baby go! Yesterday the JP tube was removed. That is the tube that suctioned and drained fluid from his pancreas. I spellchecked but pancreas looks wrong to me (sigh). We were really hoping he would not need to go home with that tube so that is fantastic news!  Dale has developed some very stubborn digestive difficulties and the docs are struggling to find a combination of meds that will help move things along (so to speak) as “things” are stuck and Dale is quite uncomfortable and has formed a big/little buddha belly!  Not a good situation for s...

Yesterday afternoon we found when the sun starts to lower in the western sky, it has a direct shot at Dale’s window and his eyes. We adjusted the window screen and tried to block it with a pillow but we just couldn’t get it out of his eyes.  We called for some help to see if we could turn his bed to angle it away from the window a bit. Hey…it’s on wheels and seemed like an easy solution. The aid came in and we ran our idea past her. She wasn’t stoked at the idea. Instead, she offered to give Dale a pillow case. We weren’t quite sure what that would do so I asked her Is that to tape on the window? She replied No, it’s to put on your face. Uhhhhh…nooooo. We sent her on her way and waited for the next able body to come along.  The next person to make an appearance used her muscle and got the bed moved and my honey was off to slumberland.  This morning, Dale woke after a good restful sleep NOT feeling well. A bit of chills and a very slight fever.  After some breakfast ...

Dale had his first solid food yesterday and had graduated to peeing like a big boy. Milestones! This morning breakfast was ordered for Dale and everything was looking fine and normal and dare I say good. AND THEN THIS HAPPENED! The order print out calls that a sausage but that doesn’t look like any sausage I’ve ever eaten! Call it what you like but that THING is not normal. No sir, No how, NO THANK YOU! 😳

Yesterday was a day filled with activity and tension. We were lucky to be surrounded by family ~ thanks Mom, Marcy, and Erik for being here to support Dale and to keep me company.  And thanks to everyone that has sent well wishes on the blog (please toss your name in your comment so I can share with Dale.) Today we are taking things a bit slower. The day started by saying so long penthouse suite and hello general population. Dale did so good that this morning he was moved out of the big new clean room to a little old armpit of a room (yeah, yeah, it’s clean-ish.) I’m an admitted hotel snob and I am trying to stay focused on the end goal and not caught up in the aesthetics.  For lunch, handsome hubby got his first taste of real food and other than showing disgust towards the cooked carrots, he ate like a champ. Pain level isn’t great today but we were warned to expect that and Dale is powering through without the push button pain killer. Again…a champ! I got my first look at th...

Surgery was expected to take 3-5 hours. It took just over an hour. ONE HOUR! The surgeon came out and said that Dale’s spleen was the size of a baby. A BABY! The baby was delivered and Dale is back in his room and resting comfortably — ok, maybe not exactly comfortably.  Thanks to all of you that have left messages or comments on the blog. I’ve been reading them to Dale and they really help lift his spirits! He will be in the hospital for about 1 week and I will keep you all updated on his progress but for now… WHAT DO WE NAME THE BABY? ♥️~Nurse Kathy

 I arrived at the hospital at 5:15an (A.M. - the morning one - gahhh).  Dale was up and waiting. Blood transfusion still going and there was a sense of hurry in the room as they needed the transfusion to be done so Dale could shower with the special soap, toss in a few meds and get him out to the transport team waiting on the hall. I was more than a little s when they decided to call it quits on the remaining blood…I think to just speed things along. The team moved us through all the pre-op “stuff”, we met with the surgeon and anesthesiologist and with all that, we were ready to go! Dale told the surgeon to feel free to toss a few stitches in his hiatal hernia to which in form of reply, the surgeon gave him a wink and a pat on the shoulder. Is that a no?? Dale is in surgery now and they are estimating it will be  completed around noon. I’ve got the big Starbucks and my crossword puzzle and am anxious to be holding his hand again, Keep the good thoughts coming and stay tun...

August 1st -- a nighttime post. This was definitely not the birthday I had planned for my sweet Dale.  I could tell you about all the things that it wasn't, but I think instead of that, I will tell you all the things it was.   I got to spend the day with my sweetheart, and he was looking quite handsome in those snazzy scrubs.  He had his birthday breakfast in bed and later in the day, hand in hand, we took a leisurely walk all the while admiring the natural beauty of Michigan.  Okay, so the natural beauty was courtesy of the photographs lining the walls of his floor but hey...I'm not the outdoorsy type so that suited me just fine.   Erik came to the hospital early and brightened Dale up.  The boys (father and son) chatted work and family and history and all the manly man stuff only they can.  Together they make me laugh and I love seeing them together.  Sappiness aside, I am grateful for Erik and the relationship we have and more importa...

Nurse Kathy here with an update. Yesterday morning, Dale went for his planned, pre-transfusion blood work.  Easy-peasy and back at home in time for lunch.   An hour or so later, the surgeon's nurse called with news that the blood taken in the morning came back and the values were not good.  Not good at all.  Bad.  Both the surgeon and oncologist/hematologist were both very concerned and wanted Dale admitted to the hospital right away.  We were instructed he would need to go through the emergency room, and they would get him admitted.   Well, if you know my handsome husband, you know that he was not going to jump and drive right over.  No sir!  He had some lunch, did a little computer work, watered the plants in the garden, took a shower, returned a few phone calls and cuddled the pup.  Then he was ready! We packed up a few things he would want with him and off we went. We arrived around dinner time to a line of folks waiting in...