Back to 3NW

This morning when I arrived in the ICU to see Jeff he was sitting in an upright position and less than an hour later had walked to the Nurse's Station and back to a recliner in his room. A couple of hours later he did what I call the ICU Circuit (he walked from one end of the ICU to the other which is no small feat considering it was less than 24 hours since the surgery and the unit is pretty long). Of course, the epidural catheter was a big help and has really kept Jeff's pain under contronl. He progressed well through the morning and they moved him back to 3NW at 1:30 today (Yea!!!).

Before moving back to his regular unit where he knows most of the staff by name now, they removed all but two IV's, the EKG leads, and all the other acutraments (sp?) that come along with a surgical patient. Jeff's still not allowed to have any food, not even clear liquids but hopefully that will change soon. His blood sugars have been normal since the procedure but they will continue to monitor them every two hours for a while.

Drs. Pingpank and Royal said Jeff should be in the hospital for a week but that they will probably be giving him some time off from surgery and PHPs ... and perhaps a long time off....I heard mention of five years or more.

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up but since the primary tumors in/near the pancrease are gone and the liver tumors are dying, and Jeff's blood sugars are back to normal there isn't much more to do othern than monitor him. I can't tell you enough how happy that has made both of us...even if we are a little skeptical after everything we've been through.

Right now I think we'll do what we do best....take it one day at a time and let Jeff concentrate on getting off the epidural and walking around 3NW and Building 10 (our new winter/spring home of 2006).