Set back

DH had a really bad night last night. Throughout the evening he just kept saying he didn't feel very good. About 10 or 10:30 (I can't remember what time, I had already been asleep) he went outside to lock up the shop. It's cold out and he only had on a t-shirt. He came into the bedroom saying he couldn't stop shivering and was in more pain than earlier in the evening. Just pain all over he said. I had him get in bed with his heating pad and he took one of the pain meds. A bit later he had to cough and said it felt like pain all thru his heart with it. Then he was up walking around, sitting at his desk chair, back and forth.

Possibly he had done too much walking yesterday, so soon after surgery. Maybe just too strenuous right now. Or maybe it's his diet. He's supposed to be on a very bland diet and he just keeps eating more normal type foods. The last 2 days he's had a lunch meat and cheese sandwich for lunch. He's been eating a bunch of sunflower seeds. Cheese and crackers. That type of stuff. Drinking his daily mountain dew. He doesn't listen to me when I try to tell him what he should and shouldn't be doing, of course.

A lot of the pain was on the side he had the pancreas pain, but a bit higher up. I know he was worrying it was that again. During our consult with the surgeon he had said sometimes the tube to the pancreas still has "stuff in it" and can still cause problems, because that part is not removed when they take out the bladder. So, I know dh was worried it was that. He didn't know if he should go into ER and if so, which ER? Drive the short distance to town where they don't have as much skill and medical equipment, or drive in the middle of the night to the city. I called the ER dept at the city hospital (where the surgery was done). The ER nurse there advised to call his surgeons office and talk to the on call doctor. He called back about 15 minutes later, around 1am and I think that helped calm dh down. I had dh talk to him, rather than me trying to explain how he felt, and I'm glad I did. He didn't have a lot of answers, other than if he really felt worse and needed to go to ER, he'd recommend the city, as if he goes to our town they can't transfer him because they are considered "full" but if he goes straight to the city ER, they would admit him, if needed. 

A little before 4am dh agreed to take 2 of the pain pills (the instructions say 1-2 pills as needed every 4 hours for the first few days and might need to take at night for up to 2 weeks). He slept the next 4 hours until I got up at just before 8am. So, that's about all the sleep I got was the 4 hours.

Part of the discharge and surgery pamphlet we got about the surgery said that the gas they use can cause pain after, especially in the shoulder area. I then researched some more and it said this pain from the gas they put in him to do the surgery can be there for up to a week. Right now his pain is up  higher than the pancreas pain was. It's up behind his shoulder blade and in front of his left side chest.

I have a call into the surgeons office again this morning and a nurse is going to call me back. I want to know if they think this pain he's experiencing since last night could be from the gas used or what. Up until then the only pain he was having was at his incisions areas and then mostly from moving around. He wasn't in pain to lay or sit, so hasn't been needing the pain meds, though taking some tylenol at times.

I called and canceled the vet appointment for the cat we had this afternoon. I got that rescheduled for later next week. 

Lately, it seems to be always something to deal with.