Overnight in ICU

Today was a long day. John was up at 4:00am to shower with his antiseptic sponge and to drink his apple juice at 5am as instructed. We arrived at Grand River Hospital before 6:00am to get him prepped for his surgery at 8:00am.

Three hours later, as expected, the surgeon came out to the OR family waiting room to tell me that everything went well. He removed the tumour without doing an ostomy. I was told John would be in recovery for 1-2 hours and then be transferred to his room, where I could see him.

That’s not exactly what happened.

The surgeon came back before 1:00pm to let me know that they were concerned with how much John was bleeding. They were going to continue monitoring him in hopes that it would start to clot. Otherwise they might have to open him up again to fix it.

As the hours dragged on, I read, drank coffee, listened to podcasts, and crocheted until I ran out of yarn (keeping my hands busy helps my mind stay calm). Under any other circumstances this would have felt like a vacation. And of course I prayed for John. Later in the afternoon a nurse let me say hi to him briefly in the recovery room.

He was transferred to the ICU around 5:00pm. I was finally able to see him about an hour and a half later. He was talking coherently but seemed very tired and extremely thirsty since he wasn’t allowed to have anything to drink yet. He said talking made him feel nauseous. He was still having bleeding episodes, so around 8:00pm they started giving him blood transfusions. They’ll continue to monitor him overnight in the ICU and tomorrow he may need another surgery if the bleeding doesn’t stop on its own.

It was a long day for the kids too. Harry especially was disappointed that I didn’t come home before he went to bed, although I did call them from the ICU waiting room to say goodnight before Grandma and Grandpa tucked them in. They all miss Daddy.

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us and sending me encouraging messages all day long! Please continue to pray for John’s recovery. I know he is in good hands.