April 6, 2009 Post Op

It's been a long day - definitely a good day - but a long and emotional day for Brett. Luckily, we were "surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses", family, friends, and hospital staff. God's presence was definitely felt.

The producer and his film crew were in the hospital lobby awaiting our 5:15 a.m. arrival. After some brief paperwork, Brett was off to prep for surgery. He had a few "race day jitters" but, heck, who wouldn't? Once his local urologist (and personal friend) showed up, you could see his relief; he was now at ease and was soon off to the OR. Mike was here for the symposium, but his first order of business was to observe Brett's surgery. As sister Leslie and awesome friends, Jeff and Bonnie, and I patiently waited we got updated texts from Mike in the OR. How awesome is that! Surgery was absolutely flawless - as good as it gets! You can't ask for better than that! Once out of recovery, Brett was rolled into his VIP room on the fourth floor. He was greeted by awesome nurses who took wonderful care of him. I can't put his feelings into words, but I am sure he will blog about it when he's got the energy. Like I said, we were surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses...

How's he feeling. He's hungry, very hungry. No food since Saturday night! He can start having solid food in the morning. Within the last hour or so, his bladder has started to spasm. Not fun - a lot of sharp pain and discomfort. It's difficult seeing him in so much pain knowing there is nothing I can do. Hopefully the meds will kick in and help ease the pain. The nurses say it usually subsides after the first twenty-four hours. He's been up for two walks. The fist one did not go so well. The combination of nausea and dizziness took its toll and he almost face planted. After five hours, he was up again. This time was much better, but a second nurse followed close behind with a chair to catch him just in case! Hopefully he'll be able to get some sleep tonight. The doc will be here bright and early in the morning and we are anticipating discharge by noon! We'll be off to the hotel to relax - by the pool of course!