about my brother...

... though there is not much to report, we continue to have hope. I told them before we left  the ICU waiting area on Wed. evening: you have to be optimistic, and hope for the best, but season that with a pinch of realism. When we left Virginia last night, there was no new news. The surgeon had not come back around to check on him and give an update, so our hearts were still hanging on to the positivity we were diligently practicing.

Everything you can think about opening up the bones that keep your gray matter in place is scary. The idea of putting your loved ones' life and sensibilities into the hands of a complete stranger will always be anxiety inducing. You have to have a lot of trust in order to accept a diagnosis and agree to the options they recommend for resolution. Humans are human, imperfect, fallible. It is a frightening prospect to turn a husband, father over to the medical personnel -  see them wheeled away and disappear through the swinging doors...

The medical staff were instructed to do scans of his head overnight, to have images for radiology to interpret, provide updated info. when the surgeon comes for early morning rounds. There was concern he might have had a stroke during surgery, but that apparently did not occur.  I missed hearing the report first hand on Wednesday morning, but continue to hope for improvement. Wednesday morning, was weaned off sedatives that induced a sort coma, to keep him immobile. Then taken off respirator, so he is, I think, breathing on his own. Slowly coming around...

It is safe to assume the process would have been the same today, with scans done in the wee hours, images read and report ready for surgeon on arrival.  Ironic to think that the patient is sleeping much better than his anxious family, camping out on hard couches in ICU waiting area. It takes days for all the anesthesia to get out of your system, longer if you are not active, moving around to increase blood circulation. After such a risky surgery, they knew to expect to he would be in ICU for several days, to be closely monitored and easily accessible if urgent care was needed.