Going, Going, ...

Deb's mom is gone.  We took her back to the airport yesterday morning and she flew back to Nevada.  It was very good having her around during the initial phases of Deb's recovery.  I would have had difficultly doing all of the nursing duties myself and still report to work at all.

Also gone is the second and final surgical drain.  Deb is very, very happy to have it gone, as am I.  It wasn't any fun for any of us to deal with, and it was quite uncomfortable as well for Deb for the two weeks she had it.  Taking it out wasn't exactly comfortable for Deb either.  I know this because I was holding her hand as the doctor was pulling it out and I was worried at first that I'll pull back a tangled mess of broken fingers.  I have regained feeling in most of my fingers now, though.  

While we were there and the doctor had Deb in a prone position on the table, he went ahead and added some saline to the tissue expander (temporary implant).  It's pretty cool how he does part of it.  There's a magnet in the implant at the port he needs to aim for with the saline injection.  He uses another magnet to pinpoint its position under skin and tissue.  Deb said she felt a little like an Ouija Board as he was moving the magnetic indicator around to find the port.  Then came the injection part, which involves a large needle and syringe.  Supposedly the area he goes through with the needle is supposed to still be numb from the surgery, but apparently not entirely.  I think I could actually feel a couple of my knuckles crackling that time.  At least they aren't blue anymore.

I think Deb felt better after the appointment than she'd expected.  She was a little sore from the drain removal and saline addition (100 ml this time), but not as much as she'd expected.  I just smiled and kept my mouth shut.

Overnight the pain hit her harder than she'd prepared for, which is what I knew was coming.  The painkillers weren't doing enough to let her rest, so even though we started upstairs in the bed, I ended up following her down to the reclining chairs in the front room (or Living Room, or Parlor, or Sitting Room, or whatever you want to call it), bypassing the sofa along the way.  I ended up staying home with Deb instead of going to work because she was still in a good deal of pain this morning, and I knew she wouldn't be able to drive anywhere should it become necessary (e.g., to go see the doctor, to go to the ER, et cetera).  She nodded off mid-morning and dozed pretty well until 1pm, and then again after lunch until about 4pm or so, when she got up to take a shower.  I think she's feeling much better now.

And no drain to deal with.  Hurray!