Tuesday's and Wednesday's plan was comfort. Today's plan is safety and pain control. This morning we learned that Tony may have permanent loss of feeling in the right side of his face and all of his teeth, not paralysis, so don't expect a droopy cheek. Regular dental checkups will become the norm. Timora and I brushed it off and said he would need worse news than that to get us down. Timora left today at 4pm.
Most of us have had really bad knock you off your feet headaches where we curl up in bed and sleep it off. Tony has this headache, no feeling in his teeth, and a bunch of people telling him he needs to walk, brush his teeth, and eat. Maybe the headache is from Mountain Dew withdrawal. Maybe not. He's taking the pain in stride. I think he knows that the post-op phase is over and it's time for recovery.
Tony's rock has been Teresa. She's been following doctors orders which isn't always what Tony wants to do. Last night Tony woke up at 11pm and said he wanted to wake up and talk for a while. Lucky for Tony, Teresa was within a few feet cramped up on a mini pull out bed ready to talk. Teresa and I are sharing the massage duties, careful not to pull out the IV in his neck. Tony said if I ever get a brain tumor he will reciprocate the love.
Without food, Tony tends to want to vomit his pain medication which is very painful. The problem is that having no sensation in his teeth is making him gag. Dr. Robertson said Tony will learn to deal with it. He chewed a piece of jello about 20 times not knowing whether or not it was ready to swallow.
For everyone's benefit, Tony will make a joke to let us know he's ok. No smiles, just a joke. He didn't even laugh at the balloon that came with flowers from Cathy. It said, "Hope you're fishin' REEL soon". Flowers also arrived from Sodexho which really brightens up the room. Unfortunately, there will be no sleeping off of this headache. He's going to have to walk, eat, shower, brush his teeth, and drive 6 hours to Chattanooga this weekend.
The official staple count was 20, not 40. Also, for those of you who received pictures, we learned why they didn't shave his head. New research says that having hair in the wound actually helps the healing process by acting as an antibacterial agent.
Much love in Tennessee,
Ken
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2 comments:
I just have to say that Kenny has done a fantastic job with the blog. He has realy stayed on top of it and has kept us very well informed. I'm also thankful that he is there to comfort Teresa and Tony. I know it has been hard on him to see Tony in so much pain. (emotional and physical) My sons are strong, loving and sensitive men, and I am very proud of them. I also have to thank Timora for keeping me sane through all of this, she is a remarkable women.
This is great info to know.
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