Sat. Morning
Mornings don't seem to be too good for Kim. She has been exhausted this morning. She doesn't have any energy. They have started her on some liquid medications. They are strong and hurt her throat as well as taste bad. We are mixing them with Boost so she can tolerate them. It takes a lot of energy to get them down using a syringe. So, she is spending the day taking medicine and sleeping between doses. It looks like we will spend another night at the hospital. Please keep sending her emails. She loves to read them when she is feeling up to it. It is hard for her to respond at this time, but she loves hearing from her friends. Let her know what is going on in Austin and at church. Humor is helpful too.
We have been praying for rain and Dallas is going to get quite a bit starting tomorrow. It will also turn cold. Of course we had planned for dry, warm weather. We forgot to get specific with our prayers and ask that the rain be in Austin.

Kim was so exhausted from the morning that she slept most of the afternoon. The doctor has left an order for her to get an extra boost of pain killer when she needs it. We think that when she sleeps she doesn't push her pain button at regular intervals and the dosage gets too low. Then she is suddenly in a lot of pain. He does not want us to wake her up to push it because she needs the sleep. Now that she can get it as needed I hope she won't get to the extreme level she got to today. It is now 7:30 and Kim is sound asleep. Sounds good to me too.

Things change rapidly around here. Kim had a good night and got a little sleep. However, this morning she has had a setback. She was in extreme pain. Once again she could not swallow. She was feeling like she was drowning because she could not suction up whatever was in the back of her throat, nor could she swallow. After a call to the doctor they gave her an extra dose of pain med. That has helped and she is sleeping a lot. Dr. Wolford said he would come in shortly to check on her. He thinks she may be having muscle spasms in her throat. He has been very attentive. He and his assistant doctor come by early every morning and about 8:00 each night.
Fortunately his office is just in the next building.
We were sort of expecting a setback today because we had heard the third day was the worst. Hopefully things will take a quick upswing. Kim wrote on the whiteboard and said, " I don't want to hear any more stories about childbirth - I'm sure I have them all beat for pain"
It is now 12:30 and she is trying to squirt in a little soup - definitely an improvement from earlier today.

Good news! The new pain medication has really helped. Kim is feeling much better. She was able to swallow liquids better today. The doctor warned that her swelling might increase tomorrow, but we will hope that doesn't have a huge effect. Dr. Wolfed said he will probably release her from the hospital on Sat. They have to make sure she can take oral pain medication and get a lot of liquids down. The pressure bandage got removed from her stomach today and she will wear a pressure wrap for about a week. It is removable, so she can shower tomorrow. She can't wait!
Thanks for the prayers! God has kept us at peace and given us a lot of strength this week.

Kim had a very rough start to the day. She developed an allergy to the morphine and every time she pumped it for pain she started severe itching. They used benedril during the night to help, but she didn't want to push the morphine button for fear of the itching. Consequently, her pain became intense. They switched from morphine to something else and it has helped a lot. It is very painful for her to swallow and because her throat is swollen and numb she has a very hard time getting anything down. The doctor has assured her that she is on schedule and doing well. I'm sure she is discouraged however. Pain is never fun. Thank you all for your comments and prayers. She loves hearing from you. When she is feeling like it she checks her email.
I spent the night in her room last night. You never get much rest in a hospital. Just about the time you get to sleep someone comes in to check something and turns on a light. The pull out couch is fairly comfortable, but I am pretty tired today. Tracy came early this morning and I went to our hotel room to freshen up.
Kim is taking short walks down the hall, but gets tired very easily. Hopefully she will get stronger each day.

Kim got moved to Room 1618 at the Roberts Hospital at Baylor Hospital at 5:00A.M. We had never been at Baylor Hospital before, but it is pretty amazing. There are quite a few hospitals all connected by hallways. They have a very good cafeteria as well as several markets that serve meals and snacks. Kim's room is a suite. There is an extra room attached with a couch, chairs, a T.V., and a separate bathroom. We could move in, but I don't think we would get any sleep. I think we will just take turns going back to the hotel to rest. The hotel is in the hospital. Very convenient.
Kim is very swollen and her head is wrapped in ice. She eats by squirting liquid thru a syringe. It is very tedious and she tires easily. Her right eye won't close all the way, but the doctor said this will go away. Last night her left eye was drooping, but today it is fine.
She is pleased to report that she can actually breathe much better already, her mouth closes more easily and there is more room in her mouth for her tongue. I'm glad she is finding some positive outcome already.

We visited Kim in recovery. She gave us a thumbs up upon hearing that her surgery went well. She is very swollen, has nasal tubes,oxygen, and her face is wrapped like a mummy in ice packs. She can't talk, and it will take us awhile to interpret her sign language. When she gets a room in the morning we will become her primary care-takers. We will take her dry erase board in so she can write messages. As we left she gave us a Hook-em Horns sign!

It is 4:00 . Kim just got out of surgery and is in the recovery room. We will get to go see her in about an hour. Dr. Wolford came to visit with us and said the surgery went very well.
He was able to move her upper teeth as one unit (instead of having to split it into three parts). He said he was able to match up the bones so that they met bone to bone which will really help her recovery. I'm sure the next few days will be miserable for her, but I know she will be glad the surgery is over and she can start the healing process. Thanks for all your prayers! God is good!!!

Kim's surgery began at 8:15. It is expected to last about 8 1/2 hrs. The nurse in the operating room calls us every hour and a half to let us know how things are going. It is now about 10:10. The nurse just called and said everything is going well. Kim will stay in recovery overnight and have at least one nurse with her at all times. We will get to visit her in recovery briefly and then we will try to get a good night's sleep so we can be in good shape to help Kim when she goes to a room early tomorrow morning.

We spent the morning in Dr. Wolford's office getting x-rays, impressions, and measurements. A lady was there who had TMJ replacement last week. She was doing very well. Kim' surgery will be more extensive with the moving of the upper teeth, but it was interesting to visit with her and get some tips.
The afternoon was spent waiting at the hospital for blood work, paper work, EKG and other pre-op stuff. Mostly it was a lot of waiting!!
We had an early dinner and will go to bed early. Kim checks in at the hospital tomorrow morning at 5AM.

Kim has begun preparing for surgery by changing her diet. She cannot have chocolate,salt,caffeine,or milk products. She is drinking lots of water.