Gary ALWAYS Has To Be The Center Of Attention!

THURSDAY NIGHT 10 PM

Nothing can ever be just calm and normal with Gary! He is always looking for a way to hog the spotlight and he has managed to do it once again! You all know Gary. Such an "out in front" type a guy! :)

So much has happened yesterday and today and I will try and give you the briefest overview possible.

Wednesday Gary was in so much pain that he asked several doctors if they would be able to amputate his leg so that he would be out of pain. Sadly, he was not kidding as his pain level rose to 15! That night we got loads of drugs on board with promises of doing another nerve block today. This time they were going to use more alcohol and steroids in the block.

His night was okay. Every night we seem to deal with fevers and sweats so there was nothing out of the ordinary for Gary. When Jax and I arrived at the hospital last night Gary was out of it from the drugs that they had given him to get him out of pain. Jax had brought 3 books with him that he had wanted to read to Gary. Unfortunately, we had to wait until this morning.

My alarm went off at 5:30 AM and I got up to get us both ready to head home. Gary’s eyes were open and Jax crawled into bed with him to read to him. After reading his books to Gary I looked over at him and Gary had tears streaming down his face. Jax looked at Gary and wiped his tears away and gave him a kiss on his forehead. It was both the saddest and sweetest moment ever. Gary was in so much pain this morning and somewhat despondent until that very moment. He sure loves his boys.

So, today I drove back after getting the boys off to school and sat with girlfriends and watched Gary as he painfully moved around in his bed. He was struggling with his pain for a vast majority of the day today. He doesn’t talk and hides his head under the covers. Throughout the day he had fevers and at one point it reached 102.8.

This afternoon the boys arrived and Gary suddenly seemed to perk right up. He sat up and smiled and talked to the boys and was a completely different person. It was awesome to see his interaction with the boys. It was really strange because it was like a light switch. One minute he was staring at the wall and despondent and the next moment he was smiling and talking and laughing.

After the boys spent about an hour with Gary I left to take the boys to baseball and my Mom called to tell me that there was a problem. Gary started becoming despondent again and his blood pressure dropped extremely low. I was not at the hospital during this time but I do know he created panic and Gary had everyone trying to figure out what was happening. Leave it to Gary to get attention anyway he can get it! What a showoff (that quote was taken from one of the nurses who will remain anonymous).

Gary is stable now after receiving fluids and he has started a new round of antibiotics for the fevers. He is in bed and under the covers trying to remain still. I am sure tonight will bring more discomfort and fevers and sweats. I might be pleasantly surprised and he might have a great night. He did just kinda give me a caveman like growl as I tried to fix one of his lines to get his machine to stop annoyingly beeping! The nerve!!!

Needless to say that the interventional radiologists were not able to do the block today due to Gary’s low blood pressure. Dr. Peck is the only one who can do the block and he is unable to do that until Monday.

We were hoping Gary would be home over the weekend but the whole blood pressure, fever and out of control pain issues have delayed his homecoming. I am okay with him not coming home. There is no use in bringing him home and then turning around and going back to the ER for all this stuff and that is exactly what would happen. Trust me – been there.

Zach is fast asleep next to me. The boys can sleep through anything. I wish that I could.

We are of course hoping for a better day tomorrow as we always do. That 20 or so hours after the first pain block was so great for Gary and it gave us both a glimpse of what could be if we could get the pain out of that stupid leg – without amputating it!!!

I am so excited for Friday. The end of another week. I think I will go out tomorrow night with some girlfriends and enjoy myself for a few hours without kids! I am such a great Mom after my girls nights out!

I am going to try and sleep if Gary’s stinking machines will stop beeping! I hate those things. They should only beep at the nurses station and not in the room. What a pain!

Have a great sleep and thanks for all your prayers and love.

Love,
L