A Window

 This will be short and sweet, but here is a quick update on Khadees!  He likes to tell people he had no pain after his transplant surgery.  I kindly remind him that he was so drugged, he doesn’t remember the days when he had pain, which is a blessing.  I would much rather him remember no pain, than the worst of it.  Yesterday morning, they took Khadees to the OR to drain and possibly create a window due to the pericardial effusion.  They decided to do a window and 400ml of fluid was drained during the procedure, as well as a chest tube placed for ongoing drainage.  Since then, he has been in immense pain.  

Khadees has a high pain tolerance and doesn’t like taking any sort of drugs that can change the way he thinks.  Even pain control after transplant surgery was sometimes a struggle, because he doesn’t want to take something he doesn’t need.  However, he has been in so much pain that he has needed every pain medication available to him and has a hard time staying on top of the pain.  We are told that usually the first 3 days are very difficult for pain post-window.


The last 48 hours have been crazy.  The kids want to FaceTime whenever possible, but Khadees has been in so much pain that they’re stuck just FaceTiming with mom.  We are so thankful to our parents and my wonderful aunt who has helped us with the kids throughout this entire journey. I cannot imagine not being able to be here with Khadees.


It’s a helpless feeling, seeing a person you love so much be in so much pain and have nothing you can do to fix it.  I try to remind him that this is just a bump in the road and there are better days to come.  I’ve tried to distract him with foot massages, things to watch on TV, etc.  (He reminds me of patients that are NPO- unable to eat or drink anything by mouth so they watch the food network.  He’s unable to travel, so he’s watching all the cruise YouTube videos!)  Luckily, when the pain meds work he is able to sleep before the pain comes back again.  We appreciate all of the prayers and love being sent our way! 



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