Dad's hip surgery

I don't know how many of you may know this, but my dad has been suffering from really bad hip pain for some time now. We finally got him to schedule his hip operation which was today. I took the day off to be there at the hospital with him and my mom so she would have some support while waiting for him to get done with his surgery. It was quite a different experience to see your own parent in a role that you've usually held. Walking into the pre-op room and seeing him all ready for his surgery definitely hit me harder than I thought it would. I am so used to seeing my dad being the big strong stubborn type that to see him laying there in such a vulnerable state was very hard. I knew I had to be strong though for my mom and for him. My dad just has never been sick before so this was quite a new experience.

The surgery went well, but longer than we expected. When the surgery was finally over, the doctor told us that dad's hip was "pretty nasty". It was much worse than he expected it would be. The bone was very soft. Usually for someone my dad's size and age, the bone should be much harder than it was. Mom and I went upstairs and waited for him to get up to his room. They were able to do a spinal anesthetic rather than a full general so it was suppose to be easier on his system. They also gave him a good sedative that would essentially make him take a nice nap during the surgery. Despite all that though, he still started coming out of the surgery right as they were finishing up so he did sense some of the surgery. He didn't necessarily feel pain or anything, but felt the pressure of them pounding in the new titanium parts. He also got pretty nauseated too after getting to his room. Mom and I stayed with him for just a little while and then went back to the lounge area because it looked like he was falling back asleep. About 45 minutes later I told mom that she might want to go check on him and sit with him for a bit. The rooms are so small at Alaska regional that we really could only do one person at a time in his room. She came back out the the lounge about 15 minutes after that and said he had gotten sick while we were out in the lounge and had vomitted all over his gown and pillow. He'd used his call button to let the nurses know he was sick but they didn't come at all. We were so upset that they let that happen. I wanted to go chew them up and down, but mom said they had gotten it all taken care of. I know if it happens again I will definitely be callling the CEO of the hospital who I happen to know because that is just totally unacceptable.

Dan got to the hospital about 6 after he got off work. By then dad's nausea had calmed down and he was pretty much asleep so we went and got mom some dinner. When we got back he was still pretty much asleep as he had started using his morphine more since the spinal block was wearing off. So we said good-bye for the evening so he could sleep. I'll go back up to the hospital tomorrow after I get off work and post how he is doing.

Thanks for keeping him in your prayers.