The morning after the night before

Well, what can I say? The adrenaline that has kept me going the last few days, particularly yesterday, has disappeared. I am tired, sleepy, wiped out, but RELIEVED!!

This morning, I was at ICU by 8.45am and they DID let me in (against all rules, but since the surgeon had told them to let me in at any time the day before, they assumed the same applied today as well! Thank goodness!). Got to see Husband before they started all their procedures and probings. He was exhausted. Three or four times since I had left he had sort of bled out again. Only, those few times, it wasn't blood any more but bilious fluid. The doctors had been told, and they were quite pleased (well, they werent the ones leaking bile, so they could afford to be pleased!!), because it meant that the bleeding had stopped. I think, all in all, he must have lost at least 2 pints of blood, if not more! They did transfuse him with 2 pints of plasma, and they had to go to the National Blood Centre to get 2 pints of blood for Husband yesterday (and it took forever to arrive), and another pint today. The reason for the difficulty in getting blood for him, is that he is blood type O, rhesus negative.. which is quite rare.

Anyway, they did the scopes, both ends, and Husband's digestive system has been pronounced pretty clean. Mild gastritis in the stomach, but given that he has not eaten anything since 19th March, and today is 24th March, that is not very surprising! So, they said they would move him out of ICU and back to the normal room straight after transfusing him with a pint of blood today. They started at around noon, and it did not finish till 4.20pm... and then, by the time they finished their paperwork on his transfer back, got his meds, sorted the bed, etc, etc, etc... it was 6.15pm before he got back to the room! My sister and my parents had already arrived, before 6pm, to see him, so they waited in the lounge until I called them.

Suffice to say, he is weak, he is shaky, he has not slept for 2 days SOLID, he still can only drink clear liquids, his pressure sore is still SORE, his back still aches, he still cant sleep comfortably on his side because it feels like his insides are sloshing to the side... and he needs time to get some energy back into him. Mind you, he hasnt lost his sense of humour! Earlier I told him that "we have hit rock bottom, and now we are getting back up again.", and his reply was classic - "Right. I have all the rocks sitting under my bottom now!"

We now have a plastic surgeon involved in getting the bed sore healed faster than it can without intervention. Given that, by the time they cut away the dead flesh, they left a huge cavity, bigger than my fist, you can imagine how long it would take to heal if just let to its own devices! It could take more than 3 months, that is if you are lucky enough not to get it infected again in the process of healing. Anyway, he is having special dressings packed into the cavity, which will keep the wound healthy and promote healing, and hopefully with all this, the cavity should start shrinking and the wound be well on the way to healing within the next 2 - 3 weeks... Once it is progressing well, he recommends that Husband can go ahead and start chemotherapy - which may slow down the rate of healing, but wont stop it. The key thing is not to delay chemo any more than can be helped.

Anyway, as per the last few days, I am staying at the hospital with Husband. However, tomorrow I have to leave here at 9am, head home first, then leave home at 10am (with a good friend, Suja) to drive to SG to get things settled there. Income tax, road tax, terminate cable TV/ISP/Phone, movers coming in on Thurs/Fri, return plates/dishes to our friend (Peng) who lent them to us, clean the apartment, hand back the keys to the landlady, get our deposit cheque back, drop it off in the bank, and then COME HOME ON FRIDAY - back to my beloved Husband. I HATE having to leave him, but, unfortunately I do not have a choice... so please please keep praying for him while I am away. I am lucky that Suja is able to come with me - it would be awfully depressing to go on my own - so many thanks to Suja as well, especially as she can also drive if needed :-). TonyO is helping me renew road tax, and terminate the TV/ISP/Phone accounts. MichaelO is helping return the dishes to Peng.

I do not have enough words to thank my very dear family, and all of you, our friends, for the prayers, the love, the friendship, the help that has come our way. We are not at the end of the trying road that still lies ahead of us, and I hope you will keep praying for us - Husband especially - but we could not have even made it this far without your support. Thank you all, and, till next time, stay safe, stay HEALTHY!