Author: Leanne Clark

Last night (around 4 am Saturday) John had a bit of a fever so they moved him to ICU B in the morning. This is a unit for patients who are not as critical as those in ICU A, where he was before. They just wanted to be able to monitor him very closely.

After they removed his epidural Saturday morning he was in a lot of pain (he described it as an 8 out of 10). They started giving him hydromorphone but it did not improve much.

Saturday afternoon his temperature spiked again and the doctors were worried he had developed an infection. They did a CT scan and an X-ray in the evening. His Mom was with him while this happened and kept me up to date. I came back to the hospital after tucking the kids into bed, leaving my parents to sleep on the couches in our living room. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)

After reviewing the scans, the doctor said he is stable enough to avoid doing surgery tonight. He will remain in ICU B overnight and they will continue giving him antibiotics for the infection as well as hydromorphone for the pain. Another complication shown on the CT scan was an ileus in his small bowel, meaning a buildup of material that has stopped moving through his intestines, leading to swelling, pain, and potential blockage.

The other unpleasant thing he had to endure tonight was the insertion of a nasogastric tube through his nose to his stomach. This was to help drain some of the stomach juices and relieve some of the painful pressure in his abdomen.

I should also mention that the good news is, he has started having bowel movements again, but there was a little bit of blood in his stool. Not enough to make them rush him to the operating table but enough that they want to keep an eye on his hemoglobin to make sure it’s not dropping. The CT scan showed that this blood was coming from the same site that was bleeding before, but thankfully it is not bleeding as profusely. Hopefully it starts to heal on its own.

The nurse sent me home to get some rest so that is what I am going to do. Please keep praying.

Today John was deemed well enough to be moved from the ICU to the surgical floor. Praise God! He was able to sit up in a chair for a couple hours and started on a clear fluids (and jello) diet. No more bleeding. It sounds like he will continue his recovery there until he meets the criteria to go home. Basically he needs to be able to walk, eat, drink and go to the bathroom on his own.

They removed the catheter from his neck as it was no longer needed for quick intravenous access and blood monitoring. I missed the removal procedure but apparently the nurse satisfied his curiosity and let him admire the 5-inch long object that had been in his jugular.

After doing an ultrasound to check for blood clots in his legs, they gave him compression stockings to wear as a routine precaution. Once he gets up and walking again this risk will be reduced.

He is also supposed to chew gum several times a day to help get his digestive system working again. Fun!

The kids and I miss him a lot and can’t wait till he can come home. We visited him this afternoon and then he called to say goodnight before they went to bed. It’s good to see him looking better everyday. To each person who reads this blog I want to say: Thank you for praying along with us and for reminding me we’re not alone! I hope that you are as encouraged as I am to see how our powerful and loving God is answering our prayers.

Dear Readers, I need to thank you once again for praying for us. John is still in intensive care but he has not had another bleeding episode since early this morning. Around 3am, his blood pressure began to drop significantly and the ICU team rushed to give him the blood, platelets, and medications needed to stabilize him. After that, they continued all day (and will continue overnight) to monitor his hemoglobin every two hours to make sure it stays out of the danger zone.

To summarize what the surgeon and intensivist (ICU doctor) said today, they want to avoid operating on him again if at all possible, as it is risky to do so. The site of the excessive bleeding was where the tumour and part of his rectum were removed and the severed parts of his digestive tract were reattached. The blood from this wound was actually gushing out his rectum. Thankfully, that stopped early Thursday morning. However, there could still be more internal bleeding they don’t know about. For now it’s a matter of waiting to see whether his blood tests show any signs of more bleeding.

From what I saw, he seemed better today than when I left him Wednesday night. He was more talkative, more himself. He was even able to sit up on the side of the bed for a bit with the nurse’s help. I brought the kids in to see him in the evening which made them and him very happy.

I don’t know what tomorrow will bring, but thank you all for your continued prayers!

“Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You.” Psalm 143:8

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.