Part II About Day II

Jess has the second unit of blood running in. The dressings on his knees have been changed. If you’re squeamish, skip the chatter between the ***

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He has about 24 staples in each leg, starting a couple of inches above the middle of the knee, and ending a couple inches below the knee. The wound is nice and clean; no redness.

There was a drain in the side of each leg/knee. What’s funky is they just stab something in there – I swear it looks like they poked an ice pick in the side of each knee – then jammed a tube in through the hole to reach somewhere into the middle of the knee joint.

The drainage hoses connected to suction pumps to help pull any excess fluid out. I don’t know how much they emptied out today, but Monday there was 210cc, and yesterday 300cc of bloody drainage. To give you a comparison, each unit of blood has 350cc. No wonder he got so puny.

When the nurse changed the dressings today, she yanked those drains out before putting on the new bandages. They leaked a little, but stopped quickly.

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His knees aren’t so restricted now since the bulky bandages and ace wraps are gone. He has a couple of gauze pads over each knee, and a kind of gauzy-knit stocking pulled over the knees to keep the bandages in place.

Jess had high hopes for supper, thinking he was really hungry, but he didn’t eat more than a few bites before he declared that was it. I’ll try to feed him some ice cream later. He’s been subsisting on Popsicles and water and a few bites of solid food, but he does eat a tiny bit more each time.

For myself, I’ve been subsisting on his leftovers. I figure we’re paying for that food, and if he can’t eat it, why should I go to the cafeteria and pay to eat the same thing? I also figure when he gets to where he can eat his meals, he’s better enough I don’t need to feel bad about leaving him to go find something for me to eat. For now, he really needs someone close by. The nurses are busy, and it sometimes takes a LONG time before they make it here. (We waited over an hour today before the nurse showed up to hang his second unit of blood.)

One great blessing is how well I’ve done in captivity. These 'pull-out-the-chair-to-make-a-bed’ deals aren’t the most luxurious sleeping accommodations, and last night we had over 5-inches of rain. I’m usually down for the count in that kind of weather, but I’ve been able to keep going and looking after Jess.

All things considered, we’re doing pretty well.