Ty, Less One Rib

He is fiercely independent and our family is loving and close in a distant and reserved sort of way.  So there has been a texting battle going on with Ty saying, "Don't come", in about twenty different ways, and me saying, "I'm your mother!"  As it ended up, I let him go into surgery with his dad, Brent, in the waiting room.  We planned to get there the next day in time to check him out of the hospital.  

He was first on the surgery schedule so I expected an update by 11:30.  I called, and that's when I first found out that it was suppose to be a 3 1/2 hour surgery!  I called again after 4 hours and he still wasn't out.  By 5 hours I was having a hard time holding myself together and Brent's voice was so shaky he wasn't helping.  I was a mess by the time I finally got a call letting me know that he was out and okay.  It took 5 1/2 hours because they found a lot of scar tissue outside of the vein and inside.  They took the rib and cleaned things up the best they could, but the vein didn't open up like they had hoped.  Never let your child go into major surgery without being right there!  Even if they're 70!  (I'll be 104 when Ty's 70.  Maybe I'll let him go in without me then.)

The next day we drove to Eugene.  He had already checked out by the time we arrived.  We picked him up from his apartment and took him to dinner.  He was suppose to use his arm, but not lift or carry much weight.  He was taking minimal pain meds and using basic ibuprofen.  He still had iodine all over his arm, neck, face, and chest that wouldn't wash off, and couldn't shower for a couple more days.  The worst part was an external drain coming out of his incision.  He had to keep emptying and measuring the fluid.  He would have that removed six days later.

He caught this problem when he went to the U of O clinic because his arms were different colors.  They still are post-surgery.

The day after surgery with his gross drain of blood fluids.  (He's wearing his Eddie George jersey which made me happy.)

Just a side note.  We're getting ready to eat at The Pizza Research Institute, a funky, vegan place that played hits from the 60s.  I think every college town should have a pizza place with that name.

We met Ty's roommates who we liked, and saw his place which was pretty neat and clean, then took him and his laptop to our hotel for three days. We kept him hydrated, fed, and full of ibuprofen.  He was able to sleep pretty well and rested up.  It was fun watching animated movies (Wreck It Ralph and Big Hero 6) and a Seinfeld marathon.  It was great just being with him, talking, and eating turkey jerky.

We dropped him off at school for a class and some time at his job in the lab taking care of ants, but that wasn't a good idea.  He was there for an hour and a half, but couldn't learn anything, or think, and his teacher wasn't nice.  He was wiped-out.  (He should have listened to me.)  

He needs to be recovered enough to fly to Milwaukee one week after surgery.  His Ultimate Frisbee team, Ego, is going to Nationals.  He needs to be there to support the team - not playing.  I don't think anything will stop him.