Day 2

Time in the hospital is a funny thing, so I'm not sure where Day 1 ended and Day 2 began. I do know that Nate is doing much better now than he was through the night. Ask any mom, and she'll say that her kids always wait until the doctor offices close to spike a fever or start complaining that their ears hurt. That's kind of what happened last night.

Nate was doing pretty well, even better than expected, when he took a turn for the worse with his pain control. His vital signs were all over the place, he was in and out of sleep/awareness, and he was complaining about having really bad pain. If you know Nate, he never complains, so I knew it must be pretty bad. The doctor did an ice test on his belly and it looks like the epidural wasn't covering his right side. They gave him a pain pump, added an IV drip, and another IV push med that lasts 6 hours. They also had to put him on oxygen.  It took about 8 hours to get the pain under control, but it all seems to be working together nicely.

The trade off is that the IV meds make him pretty loopy, and he slips in and out at really odd times, like right in the middle of a sentence. It's ok with me because I think he's pretty entertaining that way, and I think the time moves faster for him. He was asleep earlier and he woke up with kind of a start.  Nancy looked up at him and waved in a circular motion to get his attention, and Nate looked back at her then waved the same way with one hand then the other and said, "Wax on, wax off", and immediately fell back to sleep.

He sat up again this afternoon for about 2 hours and even went for a little walk! I'm proud of how brave he's been through all of this. He's pleased with how the surgery went, and is very hopeful about the outcome. We're both so grateful to be here and thankful for all the support we feel from everyone.


It's been awesome to have Nancy and Genn here as well. When they got here this morning I got to go back to the Hope Lodge for a shower and a little nap! I appreciate the sacrifice they've made for us! We're also so grateful to my parents, who have our cute kids! They got to visit Yellowstone today! I haven't worried about them at all. I know they're being loved and spoiled by their Grandparents and I'm so glad! Thanks Mom and Dad!

It's also been so fun to be able to talk to the kids, get texts, Face Time, and Skype with them. We miss them sooo much!

It's an amazing and humbling feeling to know that others are praying for my husband and family. I don't know how to explain, or express, the gratitude I have. I feel your prayers in an almost palpable way and it's hard to describe the feeling associated with that. While I never wanted to be "that family", I'm starting to understand why people go through a trial and say that they wouldn't trade it for all they'd learned. My wish of all wishes is that Nate and our family didn't have to suffer from this cancer, but I know that we'll be better for the experience in many ways.

Hopefully, Nate will get some really good sleep tonight!