Port Surgery

Posted on December 3, 2013 by TJ

We got up at 4:30 a.m. this morning to drive to the hospital. We left a little early because the weather was a “wintry mix” and there was ice on the roads. The roads were a bit slick and EJ drove slower than normal, but we made it to the hospital for JJ’s 7 a.m. check in time without any trouble.

The nurses called JJ back to prep him for surgery. We were supposed to be called as soon as he was ready so we could be with him before they took him away for surgery, but we waited and waited. EJ finally went to ask when we could join our son when we were called back. Supposedly we could have joined him 15 minutes earlier. Talking to the nurse who was attending JJ, we surmised that the soft-spoken elderly volunteer probably informed the wrong family that JJ was ready since the nurse said she had been told that “JJ’s parents and girlfriend” had been notified.

The status boards looked something like this.

We spent about an hour–maybe more–with JJ before he was wheeled away to surgery. Then we went to the surgical lounge to wait. In the surgical lounge were several electronic status boards on the walls that had patient names, their surgeon and medical staff, and where they were in the process–whether in pre-op, surgery, or recovery–so we could be updated on what was happening to JJ. We were also given a pager so we could be paged when JJ woke up and we could join him.

EJ was so tired that he lay down on a long cushioned bench in the lounge and slept while we waited. I sat next to him and drank coffee and played with JJ’s new Tablet that our friends bought him to keep him company while he is in Chemo. He brought it along with him to play with in the car, and then handed it over for my safe-keeping, telling me I could use it and briefly showing me how.

It wasn’t long before the surgeon came to get us. He told us the surgery went well, and we were led to the recovery room. After a brief wait, we were on our way home. I called ahead for food from the little restaurant in our town and after helping JJ into the house, I went on to pick up the food and after we ate, we all took naps. We were exhausted.

Through the afternoon, JJ has been in some discomfort, but he is mostly doing well.

This morning EJ asked me what is on the schedule for tomorrow. I told him that sleep is on our schedule. We were so looking forward to a day to sleep in. However, our day quickly got filled again: EJ says that with all the traveling we are doing, we need to have good tires and he can get that done tomorrow. He hasn’t yet had time to finish hooking up the washer/dryer (he will get it done before Chemo starts) so I am planning to take the clothes to the laundromat one last time.