TGIF?

Since Earl was able to "eat" almost the whole bowl of broth yesterday, the dr. suggested what they call a "mechanical soft" diet. So he got scrambled eggs, milk, & O. J. for breakfast today. He took about 1 1/2 bites of egg, 2 small sips of O. J. & said it did not even taste good & refused to eat any more. Ever since, he has been bringing up white, foamy, gassy bubbles (looks like soap-suds) and having to spit it out. He was very concerned; the nurse was not. I told him she would be concerned if the bubbles had any color or tinge of blood, but it does not. The nurse said that most likely, his bodily secretions are just really starting to flow again, after having been suppressed during surgery by drugs. Anyway, it is causing so much distress that he did not touch any of his lunch. Oh, the hiccups did not help either!

Dr. Ramirez was in this morning with the tall thorasic resident, Michael. He said that the epidural (pain med) would come out today and they would put him on a Morphine drip (that Earl can push for delivery up to every 8 minutes) and also a time-release (72 hr.) pain patch.
It took about 1 1/2 hours for the switch & for the medicine to start working, but he thinks it is better than the ultra-thin wire (?) tube that was implanted in his back.
After it was removed, I was able to give him a better sponge bath - I know that helped him feel better. His nurse told him he needed to get up & walk, so we went about 20 or 25 feet into the hall & back to the room. His belly hurt quite a bit, he said, but he needs to do that, as well as the breathing exercise. The difference between him and a normal surgery patient, is that his surgery did not cure what it was supposed to cure. He still has the cancer, and that is probably hindering his recovery because he still cannot eat.

We discussed this morning if he wanted me to stay or leave; he said that I am a big help & he was not sure what he would do if I were not there, so I decided to stay until Sunday. If he is released on Sunday, we will all go home together. If not, I will probably come home with my sister & kids after they come up for Father's Day and then play it by ear.

The kids are taking care of the cat & house; I explained (again) to Katie this morning on the phone how to wash a load of clothes. Other than that, they are fine.
Maybe more later.