Not the best day...

Well, the prize behind door #2 was a dud. Kind of like when people used to win a goat on Let's Make a Deal. The second option given to Dad to correct the stricture was another go at the endoscopy. So, the surgeon tried that approach this afternoon and was not able to open the stricture that way. They brought Dad back to his room for a couple of hours. He had to trade the goat for what was behind operating room curtain #3 (anybody following my 70's game show humor?). The surgeon reopened his incision from the Whipple procedure and had to surgically fix the stricture.

This is where the 'what they actually did' gets foggy. No offense to my mom, but she wasn't real clear on giving me the details. I know how much you all live for these great medical novels that I've been writing, but today you're going to have to be satisfied with a bit simpler version. We know this...they disconnected something and reconnected it somewhere else on his stomach...the surgeon drew a picture and it showed stitches (we don't really know where they were or what was stitched together), but he stitched something that in the picture looks like tubing. So, instead of a descriptive analysis of his treatment that could win me an amateur's award in the medical field, I've had to fall back on being the kid that's relaying you the story similar to a game of telephone.

The good news is, and Mom was very clear on this, the new connection was wide open and looked good. The bad news? The NG tube got put back in for at least 48 hours. Feel free to insert your own Hankism using the 'f' word here, because you know he had some choice things to say about that tube going back in!!!! So, we wait again...back to not even ice chips. That Schlafly beer is going to taste even better when he finally gets to drink it!!!

The waiting game continues. Hopefully, the NG tube will come out in 2 days and he'll be released from the hospital in about another week. By then he will have crossed the 1-month residency mark at Parker Adventist. We're keeping our heads up and trying not to view today as 2 steps backward. If it is, hopefully tomorrow will have 3 going in the other direction. You all know Dad's determination, which is what will pull him through this last week in the hospital, because basically at this point...he's pissed!