In the words of the poet, Tom Petty: "The waiting is the hardest part"...except for everything that comes after that.

Paul has had a rough couple of days. He was scheduled to go into surgery on Friday at 7 a.m., but since he was running a fever that morning (not an unusual occurrence after an embolization) they decided to wait a while. They finally took him in just before 9 a.m. Doctor Jones gave me strict instructions to not stay in the waiting room the whole time. Parker, Tyler and Brandi came to the hospital with me just before 7 a.m. After Paul was taken to surgery, we went upstairs to get some breakfast, then back to Paul's room to grab a quick nap (four hours of sleep just isn't enough to function on).

Around noon, Angie and Carol (sisters-in-law) came to take us to lunch. We drove to Gardner Village with the intention of having lunch there, but decided against it when we realized there were 70,000 others with the same idea. We walked around for about half an hour, then spent another half hour trying to get out of the parking lot. The teenage boy/traffic controller might have been a factor in that whole fiasco. We drove to the Gateway and had lunch. During the time we were away from the hospital, a surgical nurse called every two hours to give me updates.

After lunch we went back to the hospital to wait. Brent and Lynn (Paul's brothers) both came after work. The nurse called at 5:45 p.m. to say all was going well, they were just beginning reconstruction, and she would call me in another two hours. We decided to go have some dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. While we were eating, Dr. Jones called at 7 p.m. to say they had finished and Paul was in recovery. We finished our meal and went back to the hospital.

We waited until almost ten before Paul was back in his room. He was heavily sedated and still on a ventilator, a precautionary measure to make sure they could maintain his airway through the night. Sometimes when patients receive as much fluid as Paul did during surgery, the throat tissues swell. That decision led to a miserable night for him. He was nauseous and vomiting, which led to concern that he had an ulcer or some other source of bleeding, since they saw evidence of old blood. The vent and suction tube made him gag and feel like he couldn't breathe. Around noon, after a particularly distressful episode, which was horrible for me to watch, they finally removed the ventilator. He's breathing fine on his own, although they do have him on oxygen. He had four IV's, not counting his port. Now he's down to one, plus his port.

Because of the suspected bleed, the Gastroenterology team wanted a nasogastric tube placed, so they could empty the contents of Paul's stomach. The nurse tried three times, the only result being a lot of pain and a bloody nose. Then he tried putting it down Paul's throat, but that failed, too. This was also hard to watch. The medical team decided that they wouldn't keep trying.

In spite of taking an hour longer than they thought it would (nine hours instead of eight), the surgery was a success. The doctor was able to remove the whole tumor without having to cut into the tumor itself. He was very pleased that it came out in such a neat package, and commented that whoever gave Paul a blessing beforehand did a good job. I said yes, that and Paul has a wife who asks specific prayers. He agreed and said that general prayers get general answers, but specific prayers get specific answers. And I had prayed that the tumor would be in a nice, neat package that would be easy to remove.

So, now it's Sunday morning and we are waiting for the GI team to come scope Paul. It may be today or tomorrow. One of the doctors told us that there were eleven people waiting to be seen, all needing to be scoped, and some of whom were at risk of bleeding out, so Paul is a low priority at this point. On the bright side, the pain is under better control. I spent the night here in the hospital on a fold out couch/bed in Paul's room. I wasn't much help, but I think he felt better having me nearby.

A man from the LDS branch at the hospital came to let us know they will be holding Sacrament meeting on the first floor. But since Paul isn't mobile yet, they will bring the sacrament up to us. Mom and Dad Carling are planning on bringing the kids up after lunch, then going home to Rexburg with them so they can get back in school. I will be staying here with Paul for the next few days, at least. If things change, we'll let you know. I have been doing my best to keep up with my school work. Fortunately, my classes are accessible online, so it hasn't been too difficult.

The physical therapists came in around three this afternoon to get Paul up for the first time after surgery. He was able to stand, take several steps (with the aid of a walker) and sit in a chair. He spent about two hours there, resting comfortably (Phenergan tends to have that effect on him). Then the therapists came back, helped him stand, take a few more steps, and get back into bed. He's also been working on some exercises he can do in bed. He is very motivated and willing to work hard, no matter how painful the process may be. While he was having a nap in the chair, Dr. Jones came and asked if I'd like to see the post-surgical x-rays of Paul's leg. The subject of school came up in conversation and, as it turns out, he was an English major in college. So we had an interesting discussion about our favorite poets. He even printed out copies of two of his favorite poems for me to read. I knew there was something about him that I liked!