Dr Bill is also known as the Haitian Donkey, which you may not have known. I’m using some info he sent out.
The Haitian Donkey is used to speed bumps, found everywhere in Haiti, I am even responsible for putting up three in front of the hospital. Rod Wray and Dr. Fred Brown put up a strip of cement road in front of it to keep the dust clouds from billowing into the hospital, as the area was flat and vehicles could speed up on this short smooth section. That was a great idea and greatly appreciated by the patients, but made the temptation to fly even greater and Haitian drivers rarely can resist, nor do they have any idea of what momentum is, which is why we have so many accidents, I fear. So, we put up one at each end of the cement strip and one in the middle. The road is still in great condition, in contrast to any other in Haiti. But, even the Haitian Donkey likes smooth plodding from time to time.
Overall, we have done excellently here in Pittsburgh, for which we thank the Lord. The pain is coming down, though I am back to using only Tylenol. I used the pain pump (Dilaudid/Hydromorphone 0.1 mg/button)at first of course and it worked well. However, as I found out 2 surgeries ago, the tradeoff is that I don’t sleep at all and after 4-5 nights, the Haitian Donkey becomes even more goofy than he normally is and I have some very troubling mood flip flops, normally not a part of the Donkey’s demeanor. So, I try to get off the pain meds as soon as I can possibly tolerate the pain and hope that sleep returns, which seems to take another couple days. At 6 days postop, the NG tube came out, and my throat still is quite sore, though the nose is recovering nicely from being the turning point in the process when one moves his head anywhere. We started some clear liquids, but my reflux (present since the first rearrangement of my insides), became very riled up and has still not calmed down. The hospital formulary only allows use of Protonix but it has never seemed to work for me, so I have had a ton of heartburn, some vomiting and when I do have bowel movements, of which there are many, it is like fire. Also, I have reacquainted myself with the Depends stock, as time is always of the essence. That hopefully will calm down with time. I have always take Prevacid 30 mg twice daily with good control, but they won’t prescribe that. So, that has been the second large speed bump for the donkey on his way out the door, though certainly the sleep deprivation is the bigger of the two.
I found out that, in addition to the chemotherapy in the belly, from which a residual burning sensation still exists, the surgical resident told me they put a 12 x 15 inch Zen mesh in my belly to hold things together. So, I have a tight belly at this time due to the mesh kind of pulling all things together, with drains out both sides of my abdomen. Walking with only Tylenol leaves a bit to be desired, but I hit the 1 mile distance yesterday and hope to do the same today. Once I am up, it is not so bad to keep going. Additionally, they just gave me a unit of blood and I dearly hope to be released from prison tomorrow, see Dr. Bartlett in clinic on Thursday and then head home on Friday. I hope to be able to put in some time working next week as my partner, Dr. Lugthart, has been holding down the fort by himself and needs some relief. So, please pray that we will not hit any more speed bumps on our way out of town.
We are greatly thankful for the thousands of prayers during this grueling surgery and the recovery since then. Despite the speed bumps. the Lord has strengthened Dr. Bill and allowed for a wonderful recovery in answer to these prayers. May God give you a year of great blessing as well.