November 12th

I ran out of cell phone minutes and its only 12 days into the cycle! What can I say, lots of phone calls to mom, dad, Dick and Barb, Kris (Kevin's sister), friends, doctors, teachers, etc. After a quick call to Verizon I now have enough minutes to hopefully get through the month! I took a couple of hours off in the morning from work to take the kids to school and to stop and see Kevin for a bit.

Nothing new except that he was still in pain and had some rough times in the night. Every time he gets up to go to the bathroom he has terrible pain/spasms when he gets back into the bed. I finally made it to work around 10 but had a hard time focusing on what I needed to focus on!

Dick and Barb visited Kevin in the afternoon and Kevin again had a bad spell. He was given a couple of shots of morphine which were not helping much. They left when he fell asleep. I had planned on taking the kids to see Kevin in the hospital but when I called Kevin he was in severe pain and could barely talk to me. I distracted the kids by taking them to Applebee's. Kris and her girls came over in the evening to watch the kids so I could see Kevin. Alaina and Aidan were so happy to see their cousins and Kris had brought a bag full of goodies! I was instantly relieved of guilt for leaving them knowing that they would have fun while I was gone. Thanks, Kris, I owe you one...or a few!

When I arrived to visit, Kevin was stable but now had a morphine pump that he could push a button and administer a dose every 10 minutes. He had just attempted to go to the bathroom again and was in pain. The clicker did not seem to be helping much. It seems weird to me that yesterday Kevin was maneuvering around our house (albeit he was in great pain) and now a day later he can't even tolerate getting up to go to the bathroom even considering the pain meds he is on. Goes to show how much pain he was in on Thursday and was using everything he had to get from point A to B. I'm glad he can rest and that the staff is helping him manage his pain.

Kevin seemed a little out of it and was repeating himself some and not following some of the questions I was asking him. There had been some discussions off and on about the spine doctor coming to visit today and this epidural steroid injection but nothing was clear. I was trying to talk Kevin through and lo and behold who strolls in the door but Barb! She had driven all the way home to Cottage Grove and then came back to Shakopee with her friend to go the craft show. She just had to check on Kevin one more time and once I explained that we basically had no idea what was going on she took action into her own hands. The wonderful nurse and mother went to find some answers! She came back and explained that the plan was to keep Kevin at St. Francis over the weekend and try to get his pain and swelling under control. On Monday the MAPS pain clinic staff would assess Kevin and determine if the epidural would be appropriate and if not consult the spine doctor (that can't the correct title but that's what everyone calls this man we keep hearing about but never see).

Barb didn't stay long but I felt like her visit and investigation made me feel better and understand. As Barb and my mother pointed out (sorry Kev) Kevin can't be held 100% reliable on his reporting because of the amount of drugs he is taking. I need to start asking some questions and make sure I'm clear about what is going on.

I left Kevin around 9 to find a sleeping Aidan on the couch with Kayla and Alaina and Ali playing nicely! After the Jambor girls left Alaina was tired but afraid to go to bed. She had lots of questions and just wanted her daddy home. I let her sleep in his spot and that seemed to help!