My Thursday

Yesterday wasn't as bad as I anticipated.  We arrived at UT a bit before 6 a.m. where R. was checked in.  I was with him until shortly after 7 and went to surgery waiting room from there.  They took him to surgery right on time at 8 and he was under way by 9.  I did some puzzles and got a USA Today and Knoxville paper which kept me occupied until Linda arrived.  We went to the cafeteria around 12:30.  My stomach was kind of queasy, but I was hungry so I got a taco and coke and we sat there for a quick lunch.  When we got back to waiting it wasn't long at all before they called my name and ::Dr. Everett was there to talk to me.  Ie told me everything went smoothly in surgery and I could see him in an hour or so.  So surgery lasted around four and a half hours..just what he said..between 4 and 5 hrs.  From there we went across the hall to wait in the CCU waiting room.  While we were there we saw 3 family members waiting from the crash on I40 Wednesday.  They called me back to see him in just about an hour.  He wasn't awake but I talked to the nurse who said all of his vitals were good.  After that Linda and I left.  In the late afternoon..shortly after 5 his nurse called me to tell me he was awake and he had taken out his breathing tube.  I also got to talk to R. and he also talked to me..not really a conversation but a few words.."I love you".  The nurse also said he was feeling and pain, but was dealing with it.  I made a bunch of calls and then watched some tv.  It was a strange feeling because we interact when watching together and I kept looking over at his chair to tell him something but he wasn't there.  I went to bed by 9:30 and slept well.  I woke up shortly after 4 and watched a bit of tv.  It's now 5:10 and Baxter and I are up..well I am.  He's still on his bed.  I have some errands this morning and will go to the hospital later this afternoon.  I'll call his nurse in a while to see how the night went....later...