Friday Morning Update

TGIF for most of you, but Pat and I can't remember what day it is and he argued with me this morning that today was Saturday and even asked the nurse. He was not happy that he gained a day. I wish I could report that he is feeling better, but he is not. He has had a miserable morning and reaching he is on the grumpy side. I can't blame him, but just giving you "nothing but the truth". Gladys, our nurse today, is so accommodating and has a great team spirit. The biggest culprit is still Pat's back pain. Our friend, Conny, brought up his back massager early this morning and I am giving him a lot of massages and hopefully, it is giving him some relief. Dr. Lin will be stopping by after he is out of surgery and address this with us. Pat is also feeling the effects of a bloated stomach, which is normal. He likes sitting in the recliner better than the bed and he actually asked for a new bed this morning. :) The charge nurse did say that these beds on this floor were made for patients who are not ambulatory and that is one of the complaints from patients like Pat. He is walking around a lot and likes to stand. Poor guy! I wish I could trade places with him.

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Got a call from Bubba at 1:00 this morning complaining of a hurt shoulder that happened earlier in the evening, but I can't remember what the details were. He is at the doctor now and his throat has been hurting for several weeks now. It seems to get better with antibiotics, but keeps coming back. I will know more when he comes up here to the hospital after his doctor appointment......just got back. He may have a fractured shoulder and has his arm in a sling. We are waiting on the doctor to call with a report from the radiologist. His throat hurts because of allergies. Oh brother!

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Thanks to all who are sending food to the house. Wendy has been coordinating the food along with Yolanda. Thanks guys! I appreciate you, Also, a big thank you to Greg Ryan of Chic-fil-A, as he is providing meals twice a week for a month. I was speechless and my boys were pumped. Thanks Greg so much! Some of you may not know that I am addicted to sweet tea and my favorite tea is from Chic-fil-A. I usually see Greg a couple times a week when I go through the drive thru. Thanks to my sweet, sweet friends who have been thoughtful and brought me my tea. Also those have helped us in so many ways and I don't want to say thanks again. It is 11:35 am and this is the latest here at the Harris Hilton. Please continue to pray for us all. I am feeling a little overwhelmed, but not complaining..just a new journey!

Hugs!

Update on Pat

It is 10:40 pm and Pat is settling in for the evening. He has had a headache and back pain for the past hour along with a low grade fever. He and I just took a long walk around the floor. He is in fair spirits and not so edgy this evening as he was mid morning. I washed his hair and he felt so much better. He has slept pretty good all day. This room is so nice and large and I will be able to sleep in here. It has two recliner chairs and one that lays out flat, so it will be better than the waiting room. He is also being fed continuously through his feeding tube. He has been a real trooper and a good patient and he has been proudly showing off his scar on his stomach. I am so very proud of his progress and others that have visited with him agree. He has had some funny things to say that cracked us up. Mr. P and G along with Bubba were here today and Pat said that it was time for Mr P and G to take off and I asked him why. He replied "to go pull weeds". I don't know about Mr P, but G has never pulled a weed in his life! Now I am going to try to settle in myself. I thank God this evening for His grace and mercy and even the joy He has given me during this second day when I am so tired and could be grumpy myself. I am thankful for Pat's progress and our many friends and family who have supported us so much. Goodnight!

Hugs!

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Good Morning!

We are so excited because we have just moved to a room! I feel like I am at the Hilton. The room is huge and my window faces the corner of Henderson and Pennsylvania with a wonderful view of downtown Fort Worth. We are in room 414 in the Heart Tower. The nurses in ICU were wonderful and I hated leaving his favorite nurse, Jill. It takes such special people to work in ICU.

Last night Pat did well and was resting comfortably. He slept from 2 until 8 pm without waking up. He also slept really good from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 this morning. He was uncomfortable for an hour or two, but they gave him some Lortab and this is the best pain medication for Pat. He actually won't remember we moved to a new room! He is snoring away as I type.

I slept from 12:30 to 6:00 this morning on the couch in ICU waiting. I was thrilled when my friend, Martha, a nurse here at Harris, found me a place to shower and brought me a muffin.

They are now using Pat's feeding tube and he is now having Nestle's Nutritional supplement...yum! They also removed his catheter this morning.

I will post again this evening.

Hugs!

Update on Pat

Isaiah 41:13 "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Whos says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you."

It has taken me awhile to get this laptop up and running as I was having problems connecting to the server here at the hospital (thanks Martha Hadley)!

Pat had a very rough night last night. He didn't sleep at all last night and is finally snoring away and I can tell you honestly that I love that sound. He moaned, groaned, and shifted all night. He wasn't a happy camper. His nurse, Sharon, was awesome last night and she was bargaining away with Pat through the night. She had a great sense of humor and Pat really liked her and even joked with her. She had to put mitten-like gloves on his hands in order to keep him from jerking the tube out of his nose which was surgically placed. They started him out last night with morphine with small doses every hour and a half. This continued through the night. He also was nauseated and his herniated disk was hurting as much as the incision. He has the incision on his neck and a long incision on his stomach with the feeding tube in place. They were finally able to give him some medication for his nausea. This was about 2:00 a.m. and I checked out for a visit on the waiting room couch until about 5:20 when all of the lights were turned on in the waiting room. I guess this was to wake us so that we could visit before visiting hours were closed from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. each morning for shift change. (This applies for visiting hours in the evening from 6:00 TO 8:00 p.m.) I also heard every coke and candy bought in the vending machine while I tried to sleep!

Pat's pain wasn't much better at 5:30 this morning and he had a severe headache. When he doesn't get good sleep he gets a migraine. Although she did let him take his mittens off. He was so glad to see me! I told him that I had to leave at 6:00 due to the shift change and he said "no you don't...just hide until they run you off." I said no, I am not a rule breaker. When I came back after 8:00 he was sitting in the recliner chair and he was so happy and he had so much more relief for his back. His new nurse, Jill, saw the surgeon on duty and he ordered some Demerol. Around 11:00 Dr. Lin came in and reiterated what he said yesterday and that was everything looked normal and he was very pleased. Dr. Lin ordered his migraine medication to be administered through his feeding tube and he also ordered some Lortab for the pain.

Pat has been such a trooper and a good patient. He loves seeing visitors and he loves seeing his kids. Today is G's birthday and he and Bubba came up for about five hours today. Alison brought up a cake for him and I got to sing a little happy birthday to him (Pat was snoring I think when I was singing!) Sis was here early this morning and we will see her again after she is off work.

We will probably move to a room tomorrow and they will start feeding him through his feeding tube. He is still snoring and enjoying his snooze as I continue typing. Gosh, what a relief that is. It is kind of like when you have a new baby and you think "just sleep please"!

It is now 5:00 p.m. I know that I have written many details here, but you know my mom and his mom like to know all the little things!

Thanks again for loving on us!

Hugs,

The Easterling Crew

Pat is out of surgery

Wanted to post that Pat is out of surgery and will be going to ICU shortly.  Dr. Lin plans to remove the breathing tube by this evening.  Pat will be so relieved.  I hope to see him in 45 minutes or so.   Can't wait.  He was very, very anxious this morning, but now it is over.  

I will post again this evening!

Hugs to all!

xoxo

G's 14th Birthday Party

G celebrated his 14th birthday two days earlier tonight at the Cheesecake Factory. He received an iPOD from us along with an ITunes card, a necklace from his grandmother, and some crazy cards! Yes, G ate all of his strawberry cheesecake and would not share. Below are some pictures for you to see. Glad you could join us Mr. P.

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Well the waiting is almost over and hopefully 7:30 a.m. will arrive early and not drag through the night. Pat is ready. We both are a little edgy, but really doing okay. The calls, texts, emails and cards have been so overwhelming and they are carrying us along with God's gentle hand. I plan on blogging each day, so please save this website as a favorite or type or copy the blog address http://www.paigespetals.blogspot.com/ on your internet explorer or URL address. For you beginners, you can right click the link and choose copy and then right click again in the address bar and click paste. I do not plan on sending an email out each day saying that I have updated my blog. Email me though if you are unable to reach my blog.

Saturday night our friends from Hico gave Pat a wooden sign that says If Got Brings you to it, he will bring you through it. Doesn't that say it all...............

Hugs!