Play a Little Song For Me

Paul's surgery on Monday night went well. It was a very quick surgery and he was back in his room by 10:00 PM. He felt really miserable after this surgery and stayed in pain throughout the night. The only thing that brought him great comfort was a surprise visit from Jon and Marie. I love them so much and it was like having the sun shine when they walked in the front doors of the hospital around midnight! Paul talked to them for a little while then needed more pain medicine and it helped him sleep.

On Tuesday, when it came time for Jon and Marie to leave, Paul noticed Jon had his guitar with him. The guys never leave the guitars in their cars due to weather / humidity changes, so Jon had brought it in to protect it. Paul asked Jon if he could take it out of the case and hand it to him. Paul played the guitar for awhile and it was so incredible to hear music fill the room. There had been too many hours watching Paul suffer in all his pain and this was so calming to hear him play some songs. He and Jon then talked about some other guitarists and then Jon played for a little bit. Jon then played and made up a quick song (humorous) for Paul and then the 2 of them made up different verses as they went along, laughing and having a truly 'brothers' moment. Marie took pictures and even was able to video about 20 seconds of them. The nurse had come in and said she was glad to see Paul's attention diverted away from his pain and encouraged him to do whatever he needed to to help with the pain. She even put a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign on Paul's door !! After awhile, Jon and Marie had to leave. It had truly been a gift from God and a much needed diversion.

Paul's pain continued to increase throughout the day and by night, they gave him a pain killer that knocked him out for most of the night. The pain is still in his lower abdomen and they had another doctor come in late last night to see what it might be. He is going to run a number of tests today to rule out the gall bladder issue. They had originally hoped that the shunt tubing was the problem. It may even be the bacterial infection in the area that is causing him pain. He has been on the antibiotics since Monday, so it may not have had time to help Paul's pain. It is still a puzzle and we hope to get some real answers today after the testing. Paul has a lot of pain when he breathes too deeply - there is a sharp pain in the lower abdomen area. If he yawns, it hurts and if he takes too deep a breath it causes a sharp pain. Throughout the day, he will call out "Ooww" and I know he has either yawned or taken too deep a breath. It hurts when he has to stand to use the rest room (which they want him to do - they want to see him move around a little bit). It hurts when he has to turn on his side. He had a really rough day Tuesday and into Wednesday.

We have been pulling 2 day shifts at the hospital. Jon was there Saturday/Sunday, I was there Sunday night until Wednesday morning (due to all the pain he had been in) and Jerry came up Tuesday night and is there with him until tonight. Jon goes back up there and will be there Friday and Saturday. I will be back up there Sunday/Monday and Tuesday (if they say he will be released at that time, to bring him home.) We are so blessed to have Jerry helping us so that we can do our jobs through all of this. He takes such good care of Paul and his humor is what helps us all so much. Paul actually asked him not to say anything funny because it hurt to laugh. It helps so much to have a chance to step away and get shored up again by being home for a couple of days. Because there is not much sleep time during the shift, due to all the interruptions from doctors/nurses/aids/dietician/housekeeping etc, all of us are exhausted by the time we are supposed to leave. Then there is the 4 hour drive home..........
I slept so soundly last night after being there since Sunday. My prayer is that Paul will finally be able to get some solid sleep in after they solve his stomach pain. His head pain is becoming more manageable as they make adjustments to his external shunt. I had asked him how bad his head hurt on a scale of 1-10 and he said "Hurt point 5". It has been over 8 until yesterday. Jerry said that later in the afternoon, it had gotten down to 3.5 (Paul almost always gives the pain in fractions..............the doctor and nurses have found that pretty amusing when Paul will say his pain is a " 7.5, no make that a 7.75).

I will keep you posted about the outcome of today's test.
Please pray it will not show Paul needs any abdominal surgery. He had a hard time recovering from the back to back surgeries of Sunday/Monday nights. We are prayerful that a medication will bring him relief, or just some time.

I will also post the pictures of Paul playing the guitar, as it was laying across his chest. It was humorous to see him, with the side of his head all bandaged and a tube coming from the bandage, his left eye taped down and he is playing the guitar.

What a trooper. He is my hero.

Love,
Jon and Rebecca

PS - Thank you Judy (Hufford) for your card. When Jerry gave it to Paul, he read the whole thing and then cried. He said he really misses you and Abby Dog and just being home. He loves being at your home during the week. It is so kind of you to always let Paul bring his dog with him too! Your family is a huge blessing to us all. We love you.