October 9, 2011

 Hello again,

Nights are very long for Donnie and last night was no exception.  He really cannot sleep because of a combination of pain and restlessness from being in bed now for over 3 weeks!  He is really wanting to get out of that bed!  This is a good sign but we must keep him down for approximately another 3 weeks.  He was in great spirits today in-spite of his issues.  He insisted on sitting up on the side of the bed several times today.  In fact, he sat up 6 times!!!!  Of course, we have to be right there in front of him to assist him and make sure he doesn't slip or fall of the side of the bed but he sits up and lies down all on his own. He can only sit up for about 5 minutes at a time but I am so proud of him!!
I noticed that this morning the wound care nurse had shaved the crown of his head where a big laceration is/was.  They only shaved about a 1&1/2 inch spot there.

Donnie was really good most of the day but quite fidgety and restless. He hit a couple of times where he got real sweaty and felt a little sick to his stomach but it seemed to pass rather quickly.

Tuesday is his 4th surgery and he is hoping this is going to get him a giant step toward his goal of getting out of the hospital.  The nurses are talking about the hopes of getting him in a wheel chair and possibly getting him outside.  This would help him greatly.  I just hope he can handle sitting in the chair.  He gets pelvic pain quite severely when on the side of the bed after about 5 minutes of sitting there.  He is determined, however,  and insists on doing it several times a day.  His blood pressure does jump up quite a bit when he does it but the nurses say this normal because it is a huge stress on him especially since he has been in bed so long.

Tonight we put on his DVD player with my favorite move of all time..."Secretariat".  What an awesome movie!!  Donnie had only seen it once before so he is totally loving it.

Please keep up the prayers!  Mom is really needing to get back to Florida as it will be a whole month this Saturday since we all arrived here.  She still works and must get back to work.  Plus my Dad has not been apart from her this long in their 56 years of marriage so he is literally going crazy without her.  Once we see how Donnie is after the plastic surgery on Tuesday we will determine when we could possibly allow her to go home.  We need her so desperately and Donnie just about cries everyday when he tells her how much he appreciates her being here and he doesn't know how he could do it without her.  At the moment Donnie is a 24 hour care job but hopefully soon he will be more independent.  Until then, Mom will stay and help us out.

Thanks for all your prayers and love,