Worst Foot Forward

Josh and I spent yesterday in the hospital...well, at least about 10 hours of it.

He had his right foot done...you know, like this...only there was a little bit more to it than that.

This one was worse and required more work.

Andy gave him a priesthood blessing the night before.

As we were leaving for the hospital yesterday morning Josh told me he felt pretty good about things because of the blessing.  He didn't seem to nervous.  It was nice this time knowing what to expect.

I told Josh to give me a funny face :)

Dr. Cook came in and said hello after they got us comfy in our room.  The nurse did all of her stuff and then the anesthesiologist came in.  He sat down and proceeded to go into great depth about what he was going to have to do and the possible risks associated with it.  I could just see Josh tensing up next to me.  At one point he even plugged his ears while the anesthesiologist was talking to us.  I tried to reassure him but I knew the damage was done.  

Our friend finished talking and then unlocked the wheels on the bed and started wheeling Josh out.            I could tell he was trying to be strong but he had been shaken.  I tried not to cry as I gave him a hug and told him I loved him and he would be fine.  He clung but I finally pulled away and he was gone.

Bless his heart.

For the next 3 1/2 hours I was on my own.  I read a lot (I must admit, I was kind of looking forward to that time knowing I would be able to relax for a few hours and just read.)  I also slipped down to the gift shop and cafeteria.  I had been chilly up in the room so I got some hot chocolate and burned my tongue.

About half an hour after they had initially told me that Josh would be done with surgery I heard a familiar voice out in the hall.  Andy had come and brought some sweet potato fries with him.  He knows how to make me happy!

  We don't often have a chance to really talk during the day so it was nice to have him there and be able to chat.

We waited and waited.  Finally, Dr. Cook came in and said that things had gone well, there had just been a lot to do.  Surgery had gone an hour longer than expected.  He showed us a picture on his phone and explained what he had done.  He mentioned that the anesthesiologist had not given Josh any Novocaine when he put the IV in and Josh had kind of freaked out.  Poor guy.  Dr. Cook wasn't sure if he would remember that or not...I hoped not.  Dr. Cook Sr. came in and visited a bit too and they said Josh would be back in a while after he was fully awake.

About 45 minutes later they wheeled him in.  Andy had been away from work much longer than he had expected but he was anxious to see Josh so he waited patiently.  He spoke to Josh a little and then left.

The nurse suggested we let him rest for an hour or so since it had been such a long surgery.

I was happy to sit back and read some more while he tried to sleep.

Honestly, hospitals encourage you to sleep but I don't know how anybody ever does with all the noise going on out in the hall.  Nurses and doctors laughing and talking, everyone's monitors going off, carts and beds clanging around, someone's t.v. turned up extra loud.  Josh's eyes were closed for about an hour but he never fell asleep.  At that point he wanted a popsicle...a banana popsicle.

We knew to be careful after February's experience of much throwing up.  So we took it a little at a time.

About 1 1/2 hours after he had come back to the room our nice nurse suggested he get up and try walking with crutches a little bit.  They unhooked his IV and got him sitting up.  Before standing, Josh said he felt like he was going to tip over so they promptly layed him back down and hooked him back up and said they would try again in a little while.  Josh asked for another popsicle...this time, grape.

He seemed to be a little more on the peppy side by now.  I continued to read while he quietly watched a bit of t.v. and enjoyed his popsicle.

Every now and then I asked Josh if he felt like he wanted to try walking again and he kept saying he didn't think he was ready.  I couldn't tell if he really felt that way or if he was just kind of milking the situation...he was really enjoying those popsicles :)

I had been in touch with Mom, who was watching the other kids, several times.  I felt bad that things were taking so much longer than I had expected.  Eventually I told Josh he needed to try...we just couldn't wait any longer.  We got him up and going and he was steady enough that they said he could go.  I was so thrilled that he had kept all the liquids popsicles down this time.

Some how he ended up with another popsicle before we could left...cherry this time.

After he was done eating we got him dressed, the nurse gave us our instructions and off we went in a wheel chair.  I pulled the car around and we got him situated in the back seat with his leg propped up.

Wanting to reward him, (because popsicles aren't enough), I offered to stop by an ice cream place and get a root beer float for him.  Of course I had to get something for myself too so we drove happily down the road to the pharmacy eating our sweet treats.  When we are almost to the pharmacy I heard some gagging sounds in the back seat...oh dear.  "Josh are you throwing up?"  I heard a faint affirmative.  Luckily I had armed him with a little blue bag from the hospital expressly for that purpose.  Gratefully there was no mess.  I instructed him to put his float aside and we would freeze it when we got home to be finished at a later time.  I felt so bad and felt like I was to blame since I had been so selfish in wanting ice cream on the way home.

We picked up the meds and then finally arrived home at 5:00 p.m.

Bless Mom's heart...ten hours with the kids, keeping them happy while sacrificing her own comfort and desires.  Thank you Mom!

We made Josh comfortable and shortly thereafter, my visiting teacher arrived with dinner.  What a blessing.  I had not planned on being gone that long so it worked out very nicely to not have to worry about fixing something.  

Josh continued to not be able to keep anything down so I began to feel less responsible realizing that it probably would have happened no matter what.

To him that is the worst part though.  Each time it brought him to tears and he would say "I didn't want to have to do that again".  Eventually, at 9:30 he kept a syringe full of water down.  We were able to give him his antibiotic and he drifted easily off to sleep.

Andy kept watch last night while I did the Ben thing.  We weren't sure how things were going to go for Josh during the night seeing that we didn't know when his anesthesia would wear off.  We were hoping he could last until morning.  Well, he did last until morning...4:30 in the morning he woke Andy up and told him he was starting to feel his foot.  He got his first dose of pain meds and had a hard time falling back asleep.

He was awake and happily watching cartoons though when my alarm went off at 7:00.

He did well today...only occasionally mentioning that his foot is starting to hurt right about the time that he is due for meds anyway.

He's getting some good reading in.

 Dr. Cook had him come in and have the dressing changed this afternoon.  Andy was the one that took him in and he took a couple of pics with the iPad.  I will spare you.  Let's just say that Josh will have quite a scar on this foot.  The main incision was very large and there are many stitches.  He doesn't look at his foot until it is much more healed which is probably a good thing.

I'll share pictures of it in a while when it looks a bit better :)

I think Andy and I will switch tonight and I'll take Josh while he sleeps in Ben's room.

I'll be sure to wake Josh up every two hours to keep those pain meds running through his veins.

We don't want to take any chances with a lapse in the medication.

That happened last time and we do not, I repeat, we do not want to repeat that experience.