Recovery: Day 1

The night felt a little long as we got woken up every 2 to 3 hours because of machines beeping or nurses checking up on him. They gave us ear plugs for tonight though so hopefully we both get a little more sleep. Andrew woke up this morning around 7 AM happy and without much pain.





They brought breakfast, which he was really excited about since the new nausea medication (which is actually called Droperidol) was working wonderfully. He ate one bite of his toast and then his right hip muscles started to spasm. This is when his pain skyrockets. The nurses gave him more Valium for the spasms which pretty much knocked him out. His physical therapist, Katie, came around 9 AM and moved Andrew’s bed into a chair position. He sat there for about 10 minutes, which she said is pretty impressive for the first time up. (It probably helps that he was half asleep).

Andrew’s brother, Kevin, came to visit around 10:30 AM with his two little boys. Andrew was so excited to get visitors today, but he was still pretty groggy and he slept most of the time that they were here. Janell, Andrew’s aunt, came to visit a little while later and it was crazy how much more aware Andrew was. He was awake the whole time and interacting well. Janell brought us People magazine, some peanut butter m&ms, and an awesome turkey sandwich (thanks Janell) which I shared with Andrew. He loved it. He had another session of physical therapy and Katie sat him up again, but started moving his legs a little bit. That didn’t go over very well pain wise, but he is a trooper and did a good job. He got to eat a little of his lunch and his nurse, Heather (whom we like very much), got his pain medication changed from Dilaudid to Morphine, which seems to be helping relieve the nausea, as well as changed the Valium to Ativan because Andrew doesn’t like being so tired. My mom, sisters, brother, and homemade cookies came to visit next. Andrew liked seeing everyone, but was a little tired again. He kept telling everyone, “I’m sorry I’m so lame.” He is broken though so it’s okay if he is lame. Speaking of broken, Andrew finally convinced the doctors to print some of his x-rays so that he could show visitors more than just his incision.

Anyways, next, the physical therapist came and sat him up one more time and he got to eat some dinner like a normal person. He got settled back down and they came back with a contraption that they strap his right leg into, and it slowly bends his knee and gives his hip a 10 degree angle. Andrew really liked this and they kept him in the machine for about an hour. Then something in his body decided that it was mad. He started to have spasms in his chest and arms, it looked like he was really shaky, and he said that his chest felt really sore and that it was hard to breathe. His heart rate was also staying close to 120-130 beats per minute, which they like it under 100 beats per minute. The doctors ordered an EKG, to check his heart rhythm, a blood draw, to check for heart damage, and a CT scan of his lungs to look for a blood clot. The EKG and the blood draw went smoothly, and they decided that they needed a new IV set up for Andrew’s CT scan. This proved to be quite the task. Between 2 nurses, a couple of nurses from the life flight team, and 6 different attempts at setting the IV they finally got it in. They kept trying to start an IV and then they would say that the vein would “blow” and they would have to look for another spot. We think that this might have to do with his Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, but we aren’t sure. In the end they finally got the CT scan done. The EKG and blood test came back normal, and the nurse told us that they didn’t see a blood clot in Andrew’s lungs, but they would come and talk to us about the scan later. So for now there are no answers to why his heart is beating fast, or why he has the spasms and chest tightness, but tomorrow is another day.



Accomplishments for the day

- Kept all food down

- Made it through day one of physical therapy

- Kept pain under control for the most part

- Remained happy for most of the day