Heart Notes

8:30 p.m. I just got back to the room. When I left, Denny was sleeping comfortably after eating a full meal. His temperature was down to normal. The doctor came by and checked him. He said he was greatly encouraged by Denny's progress considering the magnitude of the surgery. There was a sitter in the room with him. She will be there all night.
Several of you are asking where to send cards for Denny. The best place is at the Lodge. Here is the address:
Denny Woodruff
c/o Hope Lodge
4215 Lindell Blvd.
Room 303
St. Louis, MO 63108

The day ended well. I think now that he is eating, tomorrow will be better!

1 p.m. Denny finally ate something. He ate a very good lunch along with one of those Ensure shakes. He was kind of crabby when I kept encouraging him to eat. He "scrinched" his face up, shook his head and said, "Who did I marry?" I laughed to myself, "I don't know. The Queen of England? The lottery winner? A wife that cares about you?" We should start seeing some good results now that he is starting to eat again. Now, his body will have something to fight with. His temp is at 102 but I'll keep after him to breathe. It can only get better from here!
As a side note: I had to laugh. Margo, the sitter, was watching TV with her earphones in so the noise wouldn't disturb him. (Bless her heart, how boring a job is it to sit in a dark room making sure somebody doesn't jump out of his bed?) Denny said to me while shaking his head, "Look at her over there, playing video games!" Real Denny would have been asking why she was there. What a hoot!
I will try to post again this afternoon before the computer center closes down at 5pm.

9:00 a.m. Last night was a revelation. The doctors told us that Denny may experience short term memory and judgement problems in the week after surgery. They said he might not know me immediately either. Fortunately, he knows me and is not experiencing memory problems. However, last night I was able to see that his judgement has been affected. The only way I can describe this is: the lights are on and somebody is home...just not the somebody I know. His brain is swelling from the trauma and he is saying & doing things that are not typical for the Denny we know. He tried to get out of bed last night and pulled out some of his lines. As a result, he is now in a bed that goes all the way down to the floor with mats all around it. He has a full time "sitter". Someone has to be in the room at all times with him until this swelling passes. He becomes very angry and agitated at me when I try to ask him to "eat one more bite" or "take another deep breath" so he says things that the real Denny would not say. Dr. Chicoine says this is very normal due to the trauma to his brain. The patient becomes agitated when they see a familiar face and vent their frustrations. Dr. Chicoine said Denny will not remember any of this and it will go away.
I left the hospital last night feeling really ragged. Between Denny's issues and an altercation with another family member, I was not in top form. I called another "team member" whose opinion I respect and got some support. Then I just went back to the room and went to bed.
This morning the nurse's report was very promising. Denny's system is now working. They removed 2 of the 3 tubes in his nose. They left the stomach tube in because he is not eating well. However, he did eat more at breakfast than I've seen him eat in the past 2 days. That is good. All his vitals are good. Temperature is at 99.2. Pain is under control.
As far as things with me... With some good rest and a little distance to get perspective, I have decided how I'm going to handle this. I'm viewing Cancer as a person. He is smirking at us and taunting us with the situation we are now in. One half of the Denny & Deb duo is temporarily down, but the other half is still fighting. I am angry at this hideous disease and I will continue to keep fighting for him. Denny's head may not hear and understand me but his heart does. We are going to beat this thing yet! Keep the prayers coming. Have faith that this is all going to work out. You can't get to the top of the mountain without first going through the valley.

Love to all,
Deb