Update #160

Dave's miserable.

I wish there were a better way to say it, but "miserable" is the reality right now.

I think we may have underestimated how much it hurts to shove steel into bone; I know we underestimated how much of a tolerance Dave's body has built up to painkillers. The combination of those two factors has left Dave anywhere from a six to a nine on the 10-point pain scale for more than 28 hours. Yesterday evening was Oxycodone and Morphine. Last night was long-acting Morphine, Oxycodone, IV Dilaudid and Valium, plus two sleeping pills and interruptions from nurses every two hours for "refills." Today is IV Dilaudid, Dilaudid pills and long-acting Morphine. And Dave is still in pain.

With a resemblance far too close to life in the ICU, it took fifteen minutes to get him out of bed and into a chair today and another ten later this afternoon to move to his wheelchair. And every movement sends shocks of pain through his whole leg.

Needless to say, we're spending another night at UC. According to the Ortho attending today, the pain should go down by 50% within 36 hours, so hopefully by tomorrow morning...

Please be praying. One night away from home almost sounded relaxing. Two nights in a hospital is all too much of a reliving of so many other nights lying awake waiting for the pain to go away, a situation with which we are all too familiar and of which we are getting pretty tired.