This is proving to be a very challenging week in more ways than one. But where R is concerned..... he did the wonder of wonders today.  He told his sister this morning he felt pretty good.  His pain was pretty much knocked down and he was doing well.  The morning continued that way. After lunch - he chose to take a nap which is not like him - because we can never get him to close his eyes for any period of time during the day.  I get a text with all the above information and I was a bit surprised that he wanted to take a nap.  He slept for over 3 hours and when he woke up - he realized that somehow he had pulled his pain tube completely out of his back.  I  get the phone call about 4 today at work... so I had to step it up once again and get him to Dr. Hatch. 

Dr. said he had pulled the entire pain tube out..... dr. was surprised that he could of done that.  R has no recollection of how it happened.  So... as of right now he is pain pump free.  We are substituting oral meds in place of the pump.  So far so good. After seeing Dr. Hatch today - they sent us to the hospital for the lab work to prepare for the surgery on Thursday to put the permanent pain pump in.  It's pretty interesting how it works and what it looks like.  It's shaped like a hockey puck and has tubing that goes around and feeds into his back.  The medication goes in through a needle right into the pain pump and lasts for approximately one month before it has to be refilled, 

We were gone entirely too long to do all that we had to do this afternoon/evening - by the time we got back home - he was on shut down.  Anxiety had set in and it was pretty tough getting him settled down tonight.
Pray that the oral medication will kick the pain. Pray that he receives understanding, courage and peace towards the unknown.  Pray for all of those making a difference in our lives. Love you all!!!