End of Day of Surgery

Thanks to everyone for all the encouraging words, texts, emails, phone calls, etc.

Surgery was 10 hours.  Josh was in the Recovery Room for about 3 1/2 hours.  The step-down unit was filled, so he went to ICU.  When I got there, he was in horrible pain (this from a guy who has seen a lot of pain in the last 2 1/2 years).  However, the doctors and nurses were hard at work figuring out what dosages and what drugs he needed.  They started to get his pain under control late in the evening.  They all emphasized to me that this is an extremely painful surgery.

Gregg came to see Josh in his room, and a little later Emily.  Josh has a lot of tubes, oxygen, catheter, two IV's, pain pump, etc. etc.  It's quite a lot to take in.  However, he looks really good!  His color is good and he really does not look bad (if you close your eyes to all the stuff he's connected to).

By around 11:30PM, a bed had opened up in the step-down unit, so they moved Josh.  I left the hospital at around midnight - he was in his new room, was relatively comfortable, and was in good hands.

When he moved to his new room, the nurses were surprised he didn't have a breathing tube.  They said most auto-islet patients do.

Despite the pain, Josh was with it enough to understand when I told him about the great islet yield.  He was very pleased, as he should be.

We will be back to see him in the morning, and I'll let you know how he's doing.  Maybe I'll even post a photo!

We are so happy to have this behind us.  God willing, the islets will implant quickly, Josh will get through this pain, and he will begin to regain his life.

Again, we appreciate each and every one of you who cares enough about Josh to read this blog and be interested in how he is doing.  You give us strength!

xxoo
Deb