Spoke Too Soon

All was going so well. The surgeon was excited about the damaged found and the repairs made. Recovery from surgery would be pretty much painless immediately after surgery as they administered a nerve block in his arm pit to block feeling to his whole arm. This should last anywhere from 12 to 24 hours, we were told.

My son hadn't eaten in 24 hours and was starving after surgery. He requested the Olive Garden, again! I went in and ordered takeout, soup and salad and bread sticks. We shared a lasagne serving. Dinner was yummy, my son was definitely coming out of the anesthesia.

About 11pm, my son informed me his finger was "starting to really hurt!" As advised by the surgeon and anesthesiologist, it was about time to start the pain meds sent home with us. By 11:45pm, the pain had increased to at least a 20 on a chart of 0 to 10!

I phoned the surgeon's service in hopes of getting a hold of him, or someone. I was assured someone would phone me back in a few minutes. The minutes went by, and by some more. Time was moving so slow.

By midnight, my son was totally dressed and dancing around the front door. He was in so much pain! I took him to the ER.

About a half hour after arriving at the ER, the surgeon's service called back to check if anyone had called me. I explained that I couldn't wait any longer and took my son to the ER, and no, no one had called me back. He apologized for the no response. I told him it was okay and it wasn't his fault no one called me back. ARGH!

At the ER, the physician on staff was concerned about giving another nerve block to my little guy's finger. He wasn't sure if giving him another block in the nerve would damage any of the repairs made to that nerve during the surgery earlier. They gave him more narcotics. The pain would go away, but came back within 30 minutes.

My son asked so many times if he could just spend the night and keep getting the meds in the IV, he felt so much better. But, the meds just didn't last long. He was afraid to go home.

At about 2:30am, the surgeon on call for our surgeon phoned the ER and let the doc there know it was okay to give another block to my little guy's finger. Whew! Within a minute of getting the block, my son was doing fine. Without the block, the pain just kept creeping back.

We were back home by 3am and he was fast asleep by 3:15am. I set the alarm for 5am, when I was to give him more pain meds. I was so exhausted I didn't even hear the alarm. I woke up to the neighbor's dog barking at about 7am. The good thing was, my little guy was sound to sleep. I had to wake him to give him his meds.

Today has gone so much better. I have been keeping him doped up. It's so hard to see your baby in such pain, even if he is 16 years old.

When my guy phoned this morning, I broke down. So much has happed this time while he's been out. He's heading home... He's been gone since October 25th. My mom was finishing up her radiation therapy. My gramma went through hell and back. And now, my little guy.

I've been told things happen in threes. I think I've met my quota! I'm knocking on wood and praying everything is now moving in an upward and better trend.