Monday, May 14, 2012

Crazy day at NIH.  Paul "checked in" and spent the day with just about everyone at NIH.  I think the only person he didn't see was Frances Collins!  He was poked and prodded and is exhausted.  The good news/bad news about NIH is that it is a "one stop shop" (and thank you everyone for paying your taxes).  So he can get his blood work, xrays, MRI's, PT, etc. done in one place.  His last trip of the day was down to get an MRI (at about 7 p.m.).  We saw the surgeon for tomorrow on our way down and as we were going through a set of doors the nurse almost took out the surgeon.  Paul said, "Don't touch his hands."  So, although completely worn out, he still has his sense of humor.

Tomorrow things get started at around 8 a.m. and the surgery is a long one so we probably won't post anything until Tuesday night.  He'll spend tomorrow night in ICU and probably be moved to his room on Wednesday if all goes well.  They will bring him out of anesthesia pretty quickly since the surgeon said that the only way they can assess him is by having him awake and see his response to the movement tests that they give him.  He is likely to be in a tremendous amount of pain for the first few days.  The great news is his friend Carol, who just received her nursing degree, is flying in on Wednesday to lend a hand.  I'm sure Paul will be sick of the rest of us by then (okay - he probably hit that point long ago but humor me) so we all appreciate her being here.  Other than Carol and family, I don't think he'll be up for visitors yet but we'll let you know.  This is going to be a marathon not a sprint.

2 comments:

  1. "More than 83 percent of NIH's $31 billion budget goes to more than 300,000 research personnel at over 3,000 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state and throughout the world." Basically the largest most advanced hospital system in the world. There is no better place for surgery on the planet. See you in two weeks paul.

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  2. Please know Paul is in my thoughts and prayers. Tom (Pidgeon Head) Castaldi

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