Day 230, Year 9: The Waiting Game
Date: Sunday, June 8, 2014
Weather: Sunny with High Temp in the 70’s F
Location: At Home with Sue and John Reed, Cambridge, MA
Today we continued the waiting game. There has been no change in Mark’s condition. We are waiting for his bowels to ‘wake up’ and start functioning. Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day, maybe even longer. But until there is some movement, he can’t be released from the hospital. So we wait. He was taken off the IV feeding tube on Saturday and is on limited liquids. He has constant hiccups which are irritating but which the doctor says will go away. He is still hooked up to the epidural and a catheter, so he continues to have to walk around with that heavy pole, but he manages to get around quite well. Today we spent more time outside in the sunshine. We sat in front of the oldest building at Mass General—the Bullfinch Building with the green Ether Dome atop. The Ether Dome tops the surgical arena where the first public demonstration of inhaling ether as a surgical anesthetic was used in 1846. There is a lovely lawn in front of that building, so when you are sitting there you feel like you are in a park. We also walked around the hospital a bit and found models of the hospital and surrounding grounds in the early 1800’s and today. My, has Mass General grown. It started out as just the Bullfinch Building and now looks like a modern industrial complex. In the early 1800’s, the Charles River ran right next to the hospital. Over the years there was a landfill project that more buildings, Storrow Drive, and a park along the river sit on. Mark is in the tallest building at Mass General on the 7th floor. For his surgery in 2012 he was on the 22nd floor of the same building in what is called the Phillips House. We went up there on the elevator just to see the views before ending our tour.
Mark informed me that I made a mistake in yesterday’s log. I said that you blow into the incentive spirometer. That is incorrect. You inhale and hold your breath to keep the little ball up in the tube.
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| 140608 Day 230 Cape Cod, USA–MGH |
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| 140608 Day 230 Cape Cod, USA–Black Heritage Trail on Beacon Hill |
