Saturday Part Three - Pain

We had been warned in articles we had read and accounts from other families that had gone through Hemispherectomy, that at some point there would be pain - and a lot of it.

The pain began around one.  They weaned him off the morphine because they want him to move today.  They gave him his first dose of Oxycontin soon after but it didn't help.  It was painful for me to watch.  He kept begging for them to give him back his "button" which I know gave him great relief every time he pushed it.

BTW - I would not recommend a surgery on a Friday, as the weekend is kind of sluggish in the ICU.  It took them a very long time and much insistence on my part to get the additional pain medicine. Finally, after about 45 minutes, they brought him some more Oxy.

After about 5 minutes this extra dose kicked in and he was able to fall asleep.  During that horrible forty five minutes I was able to make him feel better by getting into bed with him and putting my hand on the skin of his back and sending him healing thoughts.  Up until this point he hasn't wanted me to stand too near the bed or put any hands on him.

He's peacefully sleeping now.  He hasn't really eaten anything yet except a tiny bit of pancake.  Chewing hurts. But he is drinking and he passed gas, which apparently is a very big deal and a good sign. 😝

When Byron woke up we chatted a bit and I put some on video.  I would only make a video with Byron's consent, and Byron is usually pretty eager to make videos.   The lights are quite low but as you can see in the video, he is really speaking and moving well.