Friday

We were to report to the surgery registration at 9:00 this morning, but arrived a bit early at 8:30. We were able to drive right up to the Clarkson building where the surgery took place and there was valet parking...free! So that was great. Dad got registered and then we waited in the waiting room...and waited...and waited. His surgery was scheduled for 11:00, but he didn't get called up until about 11:00 or so. Everyone in the waiting room (staff) was concerned that we were waiting for so long...but Dad was very calm and we just figured that someone else needed the attention more at that time. The pre-op nurse was very kind. She had to ask Dad the usual...what's your name, birthdate. Then she asked him who I was and Dad said, "This is my girlfriend, Linda". Boy, he doesn't let up even when he's about to have surgery! And of course all the nurses always ask what medications Dad is on and when he tells them he doesn't take any medications, they can hardly believe it.

I need to digress for a minute and go back to Tuesday afternoon when we met with Dr. Bociek and Sandy, the patient coordinator. We talked to Sandy after the appointment and asked her if she knew who the doctor was that would be putting in the catheter today. She didn't know. So we said that what we really would like would be a well seasoned doctor doing the procedure. The reason is that this is a teaching hospital and it's where students get to begin their medical expereiences. We just didn't want a beginner to be inserting a tube into Dad's chest, and ending close to his heart. Sandy said she would request that, but she couldn't guarantee the end result. Ok, now back to today.

In pre-op, the surgical nurse came in and was all happy that we had requested Dr. Slater. We thought maybe she had the wrong patient...and said we hadn't. She said that someone did and she was happy because she thinks that Dr. Slater is the best ...then we remembered that was Sandy's work. So that was a nice surprise.

The bottom line of this whole post is that Dad got along fine with the surgery. It took about an hour and he was awake the whole time. They asked him several times if he needed more medication, but he didn't. So they finally came and got me to go back to post-op and Dad was just doing fine. He had to lay flat for 1 hour so we didn't get out of there til 3:00. His next appointment of the day was at 3:30 to get some shots. He wanted to walk over to the Lied Transplant building , where his appointment was, but it's about a 1/4 mile hike over there and Nurse Ratchet highly recommended a ride in a wheel chair. So he got his 2 neupogen shots and was very glad to exit the building and get some fresh air as we waited for the valet guy to bring our car.

He hadn't eaten since last night so he had a good dinner when we got back. I made him swiss steak (good iron), tomatoes, carrots, green pepper, oven-browned potatoes, and broccoli (iron, calcium, vit. C). He's taking it easy, watching tv tonight. We're going to watch that interesting geneological show called "Who the hell are you?" or something like that. He's got just slight soreness at the catheter site (to be expected) and took some Tylenol and that seems to be taking care of it. He figures he'll have to sleep on his back since he has the port on his right chest and the catheter on his left...and doesn't want to scrunch them up!

We go in tomorrow around 2:30 for a change of the surgical dressing and 2 more neupogen shots. Boy, those little stem cells must be starting to have a party about now! Come on out, little guys!

Sara is coming up tomorrow for a weekend visit and to bring a few items from home that we forgot...also our tax forms to sign, which my friend, Nancy, so kindly prepared. Sara is also staying over on Monday (she's working part of the day at the office located here in Omaha) so that she can be present for the first harvesting of the stem cells on Monday morning. We're looking forward to seeing Sara!

So...that's it for today. We're thankful that all went well. Dad felt all those thoughts and prayers coming his way as he was in surgery...so thanks to all!