Surgery Day, 15 Dec 2014, continued....

When we entered the OT waiting room, Daryl was still not fully conscious. He was shivering involuntarily from the cold and from the effects of the meds. When he realized that we were with him, he tried to communicate with us, but it was difficult for us to figure out what he was trying to say with the oxygen mask still over his face. I heard him say, "I am...", and I tried to fill in the blanks a couple of times... Then with great effort, he finally declared... "I am TITANIUM!" It took me half a second to register what he said, and I just burst out laughing! This was our inside joke prior to surgery. We had teased him and said that he could legitimately make the pop song, "Titanium" his theme song after surgery. It was heartwarming to see his sense of humour come through that foggy haze. A while later, he said, "I did it, didn't I?" and I spied two tiny teardrops creep down his cheeks... "Yes, beau, you did it, you got through this..."

The first 12 hours post surgery is important to check for possible nerve damage, and the pain that he experiences in the first 24 hours is off the charts. The road to recovery will not be easy, but he's well on his way...