Amy, I'm THRILLED that he's home so soon!! That's a great sign, he seems to have handled the surgery well.
Good for him getting himself out of there on his own time and terms.
Take care,
Minnie

Amy,
I can SO relate to how John felt. I was discharged on a Saturday, and EVERYTHING takes longer on the weekends. By the time we got to the car I was calling everyone on my cell phone list and shouting "I'm going home" which was very garbled around the large dressing in my my mouth holding my graft in place. My husband was driving and kept slapping at me trying to get the phone out of my hands. He was freaked that I would talk too much and lose the STITCHED IN dressing I was garbling around.

Time to get on with the healing in his own bed!

Sincerely,
Lisa

I'm laughing out loud at John's discharge methods! I was impatient too after three weeks in the hospital and I went home on Thanksgiving Day with 15 family members at home waiting for my arrival. We nearly needed a moving truck to get my stuff home. While we were waiting for the moving carts, we dressed my husband up in a hospital gown, put him in the bed and propped an emesis basin under his chin, the clot protectors around his legs, footies over his shoes and then took a picture of me and my sister suctioning his mouth and brushing his hair. Actually the nurse took the picture. I'm not sure that floor will ever be the same! (He'd probably be very, um, "ticked" at me for telling you this!)

I'm so glad you're home! I'm hoping John's recovery will triple its speed now that you're in your own comfort zone.

Love and hugs,
Ruth

NEXT QUESTION: What are[if any]are the questions we should start asking about chemo? My guess is we have about 4 to 6 weeks to get prepared for that step. At last,I have some advance time to read and try to be more knowledgable going in. Do we have a choice of drugs? Can we ask for nausea control up front? What should I have in the medicine cabinet at home for John? [remember he has already had radiation, so this is chemo only] Help us get ready please. Amy

Well, we saw 2 Docs yesterday. John got all the staples and stitches out from neck,arm,stomach.Trach hole is healing, but John forgets to cover it when he talks or coughs, so it isn't closing as fast as it could.Area on his arm where the free flap was taken looks awful to me, but the surgeon says it's supposed to look like that.-O.K.- He is still down 800 to 1000 cal. a day from what he's supposed to be getting. Any caregiver help would be appreciated. He just doesn't want to force himself to eat[through the peg] He's been told to try swallowing a few sips of any kind of liquid he can tolerate. I don't know that I would have the fortitude to go through what he is dealing with. I admire him so much for fighting through this. And I continue to be in awe of all of the people on this forum. Amy