Tuesday, April 13 - Last Night

Joe was in a lot more pain than we thought he would be last night. It was a long night for us so I know it must have felt like an eternity for him. I felt so useless as his face would squinch up and he would grimace and moan. He could not get very comfortable with itching associated with the epideral that is used for pain. The catheder (foley) bothers him and he constantly feels the need to go to the bathroom and doesn't feel the relief. They determined the cathedar is working properly but it is very uncomfortable for him. In addition, he has been running a fever all night and we have the air conditioner on full blast to keep the room cool. They are running labs to try to determine the reason for the fever. They feel it is probably too early for there to be an infection from the surgery or epideral. Pleae pray for Joe's pain, his itching, his fever, and increased movement today. They would like to get him to sit up in a chair and take some bigger breaths. He needs to relax from the pain and start moving his body in order to do this. They say the more he can start to move the better he will start to feel - it's just hard to convince Joe that it works that way.