Sunday Evening Update on Joe

Today has been a calm day for Joe - no major procedures or things happening. The docs wanted his body to have time to catch up on all that its been through. His vital signs have stayed stable. He's had a temp around 103 most of the day and we're still waiting to hear what the blood test show the white blood cell count was from the blood drawn at 4PM.

Unfortunately, a MRSA nose swab that was done when he came in showed positive ... nurse said its colonized, which I understand to mean he's had it in the past, but it isn't necessarily active now. The nurse said it shouldn't be any big deal, but now we do have to wash and suit up when we go see him.  

He's been sleeping almost every time we went in - expect one time when Jerry told him Nikki (his girlfriend) was there, Joe motioned with his hand that he wants to hold her hand. So she held his hand (gladly!) and he squeezed it a time or two, then fell asleep again.

Surgery is scheduled for 8:40AM tomorrow to determine the condition of the abdomen incision. They started a diuretic today to help bring the swelling down and already the protrusion is looking smaller. There are three options they will consider while in the OR.

1. close it completely
2. close it partially and take him back to OR in a day or two to totally close it
   
3. put a wound vac on it to help it heal more and try closing it in a few days

Obviously, we are praying for option #1!

That would also mean the breathing machine would come off and the sedation would end - so we could communicate with Joe again :)

I'm tired and plan to go home to sleep tonight and be back in the morning before he comes back from surgery around 9:30 or 10.