Update #9: Last lap

Today, for the first time since last Tuesday, John got to wear pants! Yay pants!! With the exception of the iv site on his neck (which is left there in case needed), and the wound drain (which is no big deal) he is tube free! This morning, they told us that we are on the discharge list for tomorrow. However, it's been a very tough transition from iv pain management to oral pain management (taking pills instead of having an iv) and so I think they are going to keep us an extra day to figure out what is going to work for John. Today was another brutal day of John trying out different drugs/doses/frequencies and not finding a fit. These days are hard all the way around. For me, watching him and hearing him in such obvious discomfort is almost unbearable. I'm freaking helpless, there is nothing I can do. For him, he's in excruciating pain and is completely dependent on the nurse to guide him and he has to rely on that nurses's best judgement, competency, experience, and understanding of what he's going through. Basically, a crapshoot. In the meantime, his body is going through major trauma. The way I look at it, he had: part of his stomach removed, part of his intestine removed, part of his pancreas removed, his spleen removed, and oh yeah, the tumor removed. Any one of those would be a major surgery, so he had 5. He's actually doing really good, except for the pain. and I think, once we find the magic drug combo, he'll be well on his way to recovery. Every time that we get him comfortable, pain-wise, he's his normal self: smart, romantic, funny, sarcastic, kind of a jerk :)....(sorry, i have free reign with this blog update thing for only a few more days, I'm going for it :)) I'm looking forward to starting our routine at home, but am not rushing it. We will get the pain management under control so that when he gets home, he can focus on healing.

Here he is, rocking the pants and the kick ass scar, looking handsome.

PS: Brian, I didn't see it til you said it, but I see more Viggo Mortenson every day. Things could be worse.