Postsurgery, day 2 (I guess we've established this as a subject line)

Yesterday was a great day. Everyone who checked on Vic said he looked fantastic and he was recovering splendidly. Isabelle from Dr. Song's office said "You're the best of anyone I've every seen on Day 1 post-op." The occupational therapist, Emily, couldn't believe he'd already been up and sitting in the chair. It's very encouraging about the rest of his recovery. His sister Alice spent the afternoon here, and his sister Patty came for a nice visit after work. He spent the evening resting and watching ... you guessed it ... a Rockies game.

Today his assignments were to try to sit in the chair three times for as long as possible, to walk to the bathroom instead of using the bedside commode, and to try standing at the counter for 2 minutes (as if he were shaving or washing his face).

I actually didn't spend most of the day with him today—it was my designated chore day—but by the time I got back, he had been on two walks (for a total of six laps around the ICU) and had sat in the chair twice. (The night nurse will have him sit in the chair again tonight.) Not sure if he'd done any standing, but I am uncharacteristically going to let it go. 😉 He has also started the dreaded tube food (if you were around for the last round of cancer, you know that tube food was his nemesis), and so far, so good. Whew!

He is still doing "better than average" (according to another doctor from Dr. Song's office). They do not expect people to be up and walking around at this point postsurgery.

An anesthesiologist from the Northern Colorado UCHealth also stopped by today and said she thought he was doing really well. His tongue is much less swollen than she's seen in other patients she's worked on. Then she gave me a T-shirt from a Weird Al concert she attended recently. Those Northern Colorado doctors are really into patient satisfaction!

Full disclosure: The anesthesiologist is also my niece.

Normally, Vic's second day after surgery is the worst day. The drugs from the surgery are wearing off, so he's in a lot of pain; he's super uncomfortable in the hospital bed and he's bored out of his mind. That hasn't been the case today—which is a good sign!

He's resting comfortably now (OK, he's sound asleep), and when he wakes up, we'll turn on ... you guessed it ... the Rockies game.

Probably no update tomorrow. Not a lot goes on in a hospital on the weekend, and there's no plan to move him out of the ICU. Also, I'm starting back to work on Monday (on call, so I probably won't work full time, and from the hospital, so I don't have to get out of my flip flops), so that will also curtail the updates, but I'll try to post every couple of days after work. If you don't get an update, assume everything is smooth sailing!