A Day At the Hospital

All In The Family...

The surgery waiting room

The major event of this day was surgery on Dennis's broken arm. We spent the first part of the day waiting to go to surgery, then I waited about six hours for him to come out of surgery and the recovery room, and finally I saw him back in his room again. He is still in Intensive Care.

The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Beel, said that the surgery went well. They put two titanium plates in Dennis's arm, one for each broken bone. If there are no complications, he should regain full use of it in about three months.

Dennis told me (and later told Keely also) that he thought he tried to leave after the surgery, so I think that might be why they kept him in the recovery room so long. They probably had to restrain him.

Keely came home this evening and will be here for the weekend. Her boyfriend Taurus came with her, and I was glad he did because I know she was a bit agitated.

Pastor Redmann has come to visit and pray for Dennis several times, and we appreciate his support. I hope I have telephoned all the family members that I should.

I guess Dennis is doing as well as can be expected. Last night after I left, they decided that he was not breathing deeply enough (due to the fractured ribs) so they started giving him oxygen. They also thought his blood pressure was staying a bit too low, so they put some leg wraps on him that squeeze the blood back up and help keep his blood pressure up.

Today he was in a lot of pain. I hope that he won't hurt quite as much tomorrow, now that the bones are set and splinted in his arm. The orthopedic surgeon said that he thought Dennis might be able to come home on Monday, but the other surgeon who is in charge of the spleen will have the final say on it.

When I got home last night, I got out the automobile insurance policy and read it. It does provide coverage for hit and run drivers, so hopefully they will pick up the charges that the medical insurance doesn't cover. I called today and made an accident report, and a claims adjuster is supposed to get in touch with me.

Thank you all for your well wishes, prayers, and good thoughts.