Hi everyone,
I'm sorry, but things have been very difficult - we're doing fine now. Jim went into the hospital on Monday, November 2nd and we came home this past Monday. His fractured leg got worse and they decided to operate to stabilize the leg (this is the amputated leg). So, it has been extremely difficult as the pain went out of control. They called in pain mgmt. Dr. who did an epidural using Demural the first night, then fentanyl w/ something else the 2nd night and the 3rd day, he was screaming to be put to sleep, plus they had Toridal running continuously through him as well and all the morphine that they could administer. The pharmacy manager came in as they didn't believe that kind of medicine was being administered to a patient and that they had called in their team of pharmacists to review what the Dr. was doing. The Dr.'s told me to go home and rest as they were going to incubate him if he didn't get comfortable within the next 3-4 hrs. So, after 3 days of being up, I went home took a shower and prepped myself for the worst. When I got back, they had given him a shot of Attivan and he seemed more comfortable. The pain became under control for the rest of the night and then on Thursday, it stabilized. Friday night he got up out of bed to use the bathroom - nurses were too busy to get into our room soon enough and Jim fell, but didn't do major damage to himself. They released him from the hospital this past Monday and I have been with him day/night. He won't let anyone help him but me as he says he can do it himself with my help. He lost total control Tuesday nite while taking a shower - I left him in his chair to go empty the trash and told him I'd be right back. I don't know what happened other than he must have become very frightened that no one was with him and he started screaming for me - his voice was extremely hoarse and he had a few explatives to say to me. After that he was fine and has been slowly getting his strength back. So, we are spending a lot of quality time together and trying to enjoy our time together. My brother came in from England and I haven't seen him in 20 + years; he is also battling cancer of the prostrate, but I told him that I needed him and he came. I have really enjoyed spending some time with him - he is very intelligent; he really likes Jim a lot. I'm pretty bitter with my mom and sister as they couldn't drive 4 hrs. as my mom had to take care of her dog and my sister had to check with her work. Keep in mind that my mother has 2 brothers that live on our farm and watch her dog and my sister doesn't work on weekends, which was the time that I had asked them to come. thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and concern.

Love to all,
Jim and Paula