Discomfort

I spent the better part of the day with Dave today. I arrived to find him quite conscious. They have "dialed down" his anesthetic and taken him off the ventilator. He's breathing on his own, but he's still receiving oxygen. We had a great conversation... that's to say, I talked, he wiggled his eyebrows. He's thrilled that the Canadiens have clinched their playoff spot (his eyebrows rose a great deal for that news). He enjoyed a sponge bath that I was permitted to assist with, and we shared a few private jokes. He was really trying hard not to laugh when I told him about the plot that his sister Cecile and I had been hatching to pierce his ear and give him a tattoo while he slept. We were kidding of course.

Dave was visibly moved knowing that Cecile, Barry, Mark, Ed and Heather had been to visit and was visibly elated when I told him that Brother Theriault had been there to give him a blessing. I could really feel the love that he feels for all of these people. We also shared a prayer together just before I left for the day.

His surgery has been moved to this evening sometime, and I was assured that his surgeon will be calling me himself this evening some time. He will probably be removing the breathing tube today as well. This is good, but worrisome none the less. You see, with the breathing tube gone and with him breathing on his own they will no longer be able to give him morphine. The reason for this is that the morphine is so strong that it could cause him to slip into a deeper than normal sleep and he could have respiratory distress as a result. Sadly, that means that he is now in tremendous pain at the moment.

For the most part, it was a good visit, but seeing him in so much pain was quite upsetting to me. Following the surgery today, they will give him a lighter pain medication, but it will only take the edge off the pain, not eliminate it completely.

He's so strong, and I can see the he's fighting very hard. I'm proud of my man.... he's a fighter. I know he will continue to fight as hard as he can.