November 7 2008

Day 4 Evening

We've been looking forward to 6 PM as the end of the 72 hours, which would mark the end of the period that the brain swells. Dennis has been "remarkable" (according to the doctor) during this period, and so it's stunning when we meet with the neurosurgeon in the early evening and he tells us the maximum swelling period is "from 3 to 5 days" (72 to 120 hours) I've looked toward this time as the end of an incredible ordeal and am not sure how to handle an extension of 48 hours. Dennis has bulled his way through this and I just hope he isn't feeling somehow the psychological crush of another 2 days of the same effort. I hope that he wasn't aware of all the talk of what we thought was an end, and that he has more gas in the tank than we do to get through two more days. But, the evening isn't without its comic events. At one point during the evening, Dennis rolled onto his side and passed gas in Dad's direction (obviously a closet Monty Python fan), then later told Dad to "duck" while he filled his catheter. And, to share the comedy/humiliation equally, when we walk in at the emergency room security gateway, the attending nurse asks if Shell is "checking in". There really is humor in everything, and maybe this is what's meant by the "God never gives us more than we can handle" axiom. These small events are magnified in their hilarity by the situation, but the laughter keeps us sane. Dennis spends another afternoon/night in Drew and Abbi's care and slowly works his way through another 24 hours, closer now to that magical (now 5 day) terminal point.