"You need to fart"

We got up bright and early.  Well, I never really slept very well so I finally got up around 2:11. 

When Ron got up, I threw him in the shower and gave him a good scrub.  He protested but I got him done anyway. 

He said "This is the worst part of the surgery". 

He got dressed and so did I.  I had already taken my shower first. 

I did some of my God time and then my aunt arrived.  I brought about a dozen Bible Promise books to the hospital.  That, as it turns out, didn't work too well.  Later on I found a "slow" employee picking them all up.  He probably saw it as "cleaning".  I was disappointed. 

However, I did see one guy snatch up a promise book and run off with it.  Well, he didn't have to, I was happy to give them away. 

We got the hospital and paid our copay.  They sent us upstairs to wait and a few minutes later the nurse came out.  I said Ron would need help dressing so they let me go back. 

Ron is also forgetful as regards his medical history, so he needed me there.  I gave it to the nurse, who gave me some cleaning wipes for Ron's back.  Great.  More rubbing.  Ron yelped and cursed as I did it. 

I dressed him in the hospital gown and laid him down in the bed.  The nurse came by a few times, and then the anesthesiologist.  They were both nice.  Then Doc came by and checked in, said it would be about 90 minutes, and gave Ron concrete guidelines for his return to work. 

Ron decided he needed to pee.  Right at surgery time.  I asked if they were going to do a catheter and they said no.  I got a urinal.  Ron struggled to pee for a while and finally sent me out of the room.  Once I was gone he was fine. 

They took him off to surgery. 

I had brought a crochet project, a mostly completed afghan, so I finished that.  I ate some snacks and gaped at the prices on the vending machine.  I had forgotten the bags of candy but I went and got them out of the car.  My aunt was with me. 

They finally called us back to the little room.  The bad news room.  I hate getting news from those little rooms.  They are creepy and reek of death and heartbreak to me. 

I was very uncomfortable until we saw Doc.  Doc said everything went great, he found the compressed areas and released it, Ron should be in a fair amount of pain for a while, but would make a good recovery. 

I gave Doc the afghan.  It was a big hit. 

Then we went to lunch.  When we came back they had given Ron a room.  I found it and they said "He's been asking for you". 

So, I went in.  Ron was fine, good spirits and VERY talkative.  I think they gave him truth serum.  He kept chattering, so much my aunt said "He reminds me of a little boy I know with ADD." 

Ron said he was in no pain.  His heart rate was high, though.  Hopefully they will get that down tonight. 

After an exam, a nurse said Ron didn't have bowel sounds.  "Let me know when you (fart)" she said. 

Ron asked me to go home.  I said I would after he farted.  "You need to fart".  Only we could have this conversation. 

I took a walk and saw a lot of frail looking people getting walks with physical therapy assistance.  Ron's time on that is coming. 

After some hours, I decided to come home.  Ron was happy.  He felt bad that I was spending my time on him. 

And the heart rate alarm kept going off every 15 seconds.  It was very annoying. 

Especially on the heels of no sleep.  I did bring my medication with me, and took my PM dose with lunch.  I don't want to unravel. 

That would be Bad. 

So, Ron will have a run in with physical therapy tomorrow and get evaluated.  It remains to be seen whether Ron can stand up or not.  If he can, he's recovered.  If not, back to the drawing board, but Doc seemed AWFULLY confident he "got it". 

I sure hope so.