Thursday - November 30

 Posted by Mark:

Pat had a great night.   She slept on the coach but the sitting slightly up position seemed to do the trick.

However today she was very sleepy and groggy.  I think it's because she had little sleep Tuesday night and no real naps on Wednesday.

Home Health Care nurse was here this afternoon.  She took the big bulky bandages off.  That felt good. She looked at the incision.  Incision was 'glued' instead of sutures.  Amazing what they can do these days.

Late afternoon she had her first shower after the surgery.   We put "press and seal" on the shoulder which that kept all the water off.   The handheld shower was a great way to do it also.

Physical Therapy lady called and will be here tomorrow at 10 (or so).

Will watch a couple of Hallmark movies and call it a day.

Wednesday - November 29

 Posted by Mark:

Morning update:

Pat had a much better night.  The sling with the pillow is very bulky and cumbersome, but it sure seems to be helping.

She was up at 1:00 a.m. and 5:45.  After the second time she decided to try the couch.  We both ended up not moving much until 8 a.m.  

3 of her fingers are still numb from the nerve block, but it used to be 4 so that's some progress.  Her arm near the incision area is starting to feel like it is being "stretched".

Lydia dropped off some Panera goodies for breakfast.  She is also bringing over our Dinner later today.

The day is off to a good start.

Final Update:

Slow afternoon.  Nap for Pat.  Dinner from Lydia was excellent.  Cheesy chicken broccoli casserole.  We have plenty left over for another meal.  Her 3 fingers are still numb.

Other family news:

Connor has decided to go to Junior college at Danville Junior College.  They offered him a Full Tuition books and fees scholarship to play Golf.   They play 6 weeks in the spring and 6 weeks in the fall.

Luke and Maeve are helping decorate their Christmas tree.

Maeve also lost another tooth.  I think that is 3 teeth in 3 weeks.  Tooth Fairy is busy.

 Home Health Care nurse called and plans to be here between 1:30 - 2 tomorrow.

Until Tomorrow.

Tuesday - November 28

 Posted by Mark:

Update #1

Pat did not have a good night.  Couldn't find a comfortable position. Bed position raised, bed position flat, recliner, laying on coach, etc.  Her right fingers still feel 'Weird'.

Hospital nurse checked in this morning.  She recommended we stay on top of the pain meds, Tylenol, and 3 hours later ibuprofen. She said to give the fingers another 24 hours to improve and she would also talk to the Anesthesiologist.

The home health care nurse called last night to let us know that she will be here at 11 a.m.

Then we got a call from David a physical therapist to let us know that he will be here at noon..

Thus I have been busy making sure that Flo and the shed look their best.  It will never match Pat's best, but Mark's best will have to do.

Stay tuned. 

Final Update

The nurse did not show up at 11, but David did at 12.   He had a lot of very good hints for Pat.  Once he got her to relax the arm good, he did a couple of exercises with her.  He was pleased with what he saw.  She has one to do starting tomorrow 3 times a day.  She is to let the arm hang down as she bends over and let it swing like a pendulum.

He added a large pillow type device to the sling to keep the arm away from the body.   That really helped Pat ease the pain.  By late afternoon her pain level was a 2 out of 10.

The nurse, Mairim, came at 1:20. Her prior call was in LaBelle, FL so she misjudged the time for travel.  She did a lot of paperwork and review of the schedule. She went over with us the protocol that Dr. Mehalik has for all of his shoulder patients.  Wish we would have had a copy of it.  Very clear and detailed.  She will be back Thursday to take outer bandage off.  Then Pat can shower.

Someone from Physical Therapy will come Friday.  They will be back 2 times next week.

Late afternoon Lydia came over to be with Pat.  I needed to pick up a Walmart order that I placed earlier today for pickup after 3.   The pickup site was extremely busy, but after noticing that people after me were getting an order, I starting asking the help.  Finally got a gentleman that was willing to go back inside and ask questions.   Turns out "computer glitch".  They knew I was there but did not have location.  Rather than have someone go down the row and ask for my name, they decided to wait until someone came looking.....   Needless to say my review won't be as positive as it usually is.

Lydia and Pat had a good long time to catch up on each others activities and news..

Dinner was a Sante Fe salad from Publix with chicken strips added from Chic-fil-A.

Hoping for a good night for Pat.

Surgery Day - November 27

 Update #1

Arrived at surgery center at 7 AM. Registration was fairly quick. Scanned her license  and insurance cards once again.  Took her into surgery prep at 7:40. They called me back to her at 7:20.  She told me she was to be in surgery prep for 1.5 hours then surgery for one hour and then recovery for one hour. They were only using two rooms and four other patients ahead of her today. They said the day after holidays is slower and things don’t always move too fast.

   At 9:25 the anesthesiologist came in to start his process and I was sent back out to the surgery waiting room. Writing this at 10 o’clock, and she still shows status as surgery prep. Just waiting for an operating room to become available.  

Update #2

Pat went into the operating room at 10:50.  

Update # 3

I received a text at 11:19 that the procedure had begun. Dr. had said it would take about 45 minutes. Obviously, nothing moves very fast in the hospital. But I guess that is good, because we certainly don’t want any mistakes.

11:57 got a phone call from Dr. Mehalik.  He said he had just finished and that everything went as he expected. He said she did just fine and the shoulder replacement went smoothly. He indicated that I would be getting a phone call in about an hour from the nurses.

Update # 4

Got home at 2:10.  Pat is very groggy.  They gave her a nerve block which deadens that area.  It will take from 4 to 18 hours to go away.   She is to ice the shoulder 30 minutes then nothing for 30 minutes while awake for the next 72 hours.   Right now has no pain, but the numbness in her right fingers feels "weird".      Stay tuned.

Last Update.

Pat is doing Ok.  She has a sore throat from the tube that was put down her throat during surgery.  She Hates sore throats.   Still has the numbness in her hand.  Probably will be that way until the nerve block wears off.

Pat gets credit for the picture:   When we entered the Surgery Center she immediately noticed the Christmas tree and made sure I added it tonight.  I would have gone the whole time and not noticed it...

Sunday - November 26

 Posted by Mark:

Before I describe our day, I'll lay out the plans for tomorrow.

We are to be at Lee Health Center - Coconut Point, Estero, FL by 7-7:15 a.m. about 40 minutes away. They have 2 surgeries before Pat starting at 5:30 a.m.

Surgery is to  only take 45 minutes.

We should be back home in time for me to put out a Blog status by noon EST tomorrow.

Our day today:  We both had a great nights sleep.  I did not get up until 7:25 which for me is WAAAYY late.

Did a shower for Pat with the Gel treatment.

After breakfast we did a livestream of Port Clinton Immaculate Conception at 10:30.  While watching  the mass, 2 ladies knocked on our day to inform us that we had a flat tire.

I called Jim to borrow his car so he brought it over and helped me jack up the car and get the tire off.

90 minutes later I was back with the repaired tire.  Had a small puncture in the tread, but whatever caused it was not there.  They fixed and balanced the tire.  

Tire back on and car looks ready to go EARLY tomorrow.

Mid afternoon Lydia stopped by to give Pat an Iced Latte that Jim had made.  Pat said it Really Hit the spot.  

Supper tonight was finishing up the leftovers from Pei Wei and a Publix salad.

Pat had to take a second shower tonight with a surgical scrub applied all over her body for 3 minutes before rinsing it off.   Will do the same thing tomorrow.