May 26 - 28

Wed. May 26^th: Kay, Jeep and I arrived early at the hospital, but Joe had already been carried to the surgery area about 7:30. We were told that it would take about 4 hours to do all the grafts. These were mostly on his back, buttocks, arms and legs, with the right arm and leg being the worst. About 10:30 Jan, came out and told us they had finished his back and the rest of the surgery on his legs, arms and sides would take longer. It was about 2:15 when they finished and by 3:30 we got to speak with him as they were taking him back to his room in the ICU.

Thursday, May 27^th: This day went well because Joe and all of us were so very glad that they didn’t use the paralyzing medicine or have to leave the ventilator tube in his mouth. Previously, we had been told that after the surgery to do all the grafts, he would be kept on the paralyzing drug and have the vent in for two weeks! This was so that he would not move during this critical time of healing. We were really dreading that! Joe promised to be very still and not move. After the surgery Joe was a little hungry and very thirsty. He has eaten very little in the last month but wants to drink something all the time.

Friday May 28: They have started the drying out process. They alternate the areas and times of unwrapping and letting the grafts dry out. They also alternate using wet or dry wraps according to how the healing is progressing. All this is supposed to speed up the healing process. When we visited at noon, Joe was turned up on his side in what appeared to be an uncomfortable position in order to dry out his back. He looked like he was in pain, but when the nurse asked him if he wanted pain medication, he said, "No". Tonight Joe and Kay’s son, Jesse, is graduating from high school. We are sad that we can’t be there for him, but with a little engineering, we were able to watch it in real time via web cams and using an air card they borrowed from the county. Granddaughter, Kymberly and nephew, Steve engineered this at the football field back home. Kay bought a web cam and had Jesse’s laptop computer, so we watched it from Joe’s room. Joe seemed to enjoy it, although the picture was a little jumpy. Joe ‘saw’ a few things on the screen that weren’t really there. They were airing Joe’s legs out when we left tonight. The last note that I jotted down in my daily diary was, "I am getting very tired!" For the next five weeks I didn’t write anything else. I will look back at my blog and try to remember ‘the rest of the story’.