Bev Report 9: moving ahead

Still trying to get nausea under control, but yesterday they tried a new med that actually worked. Drain(s) may come out tomorrow. Plied her with Indian food yesterday and she ate more than I've seen her do in a month. They told her she could go outside today: bonus! Back is really sore, but mine would be, too, after a month in bed. We'll be heading to the hospital in a few hours. I'm going to bake pumpkin pies first, since she can eat now...

Bev Report 8: more progress

Hope everybody had a ballistic Guy Fawkes day last night! What? You don't celebrate the 5th of November? I know it's a British thing, but I totally support the sentiment that oppressive governments should be resisted.

Anyway... Gordo visited this morning and reports more improvement. There was an incident with a really rude, insensitive nurse last night, but other than that things are better.

A-M is planning on visiting Saturday in the first half of the day. I'll carpool in with her, and we'll take a stick blender and whiz up some Indian food for her. I'm going to make raita, because I think mine is better than the watery stuff we get at the restaurant.

Bev Report 7: forward again

One drain removed tonight! Another probably in the morning, and that last awful horrible one on Friday. YAY! White count coming down. Able to eat more. Very tired and may need some more blood, but that's no big deal.

Bev Report 6: the saga continues

Have just been too tired and frazzled to post info. Sorry. Another drain put in night before last, this one "more painful than all the others put together." Yes, the gradual conversion to full Borg status is happening again. No cranial implants, yet. I finally sat in on a dressing change for the abdominal wound, and it was a real Cronenberg (not my favorite film director) moment. They've left the incision wide open in case they have to go back in. They just change the gauze "caulking" every day. Let's just say that I can report with accuracy that our favorite jouster has no belly fat, and very lean muscles.

Lots of pain yesterday. When I got there a bit after three she was dark around the eyes. She has no memory of returning from the procedure the night before and the consequent dressing change. I'm glad, because she was in screaming pain for a lot of it (she has a healthy grip, if nothing else!). Late in the afternoon they finally gave her an anti-inflammatory. Took a while to kick in but it really helped. They boosted the dosage on the "pain button"...but now it's so high that she gets nauseous if she uses it too often. Need to find a middle ground.

The head of surgery is reviewing her case/chart in order to offer a second opinion on the progress. He's a good guy. Right now it looks like they won't be putting her completely back together for about a year, so there will be no jousting for her until 2010. As soon as she can move around and eat real food she can go home. I don't see it happening this week.

She's been in the hospital for exactly one month as of Friday. Keep praying for healing of all infection and more importantly for her spiritual condition.

Bev Report: 5

I was too tired to post when I got back from the hospital last night. If I had made an entry, it would have been "orange alert", because she had another semi-emergency procedure to remove "hot" material from her abdomen. This time they just stuck in a needle and drew out some stuff, then put in a couple of drains: one in her abdomen, another in her diaphragm. Yes, we're turning into a Borg again.

The good news is that today she's doing better. More alert, more mobile, and fever coming down. The pain is being managed, and they're allowing soft foods. She tires easily, but it's good that she's to the point where she can tire herself, frankly. If we can go two or three days without another crisis, then I think we're on our way.

Keep praying. We're on a cusp, here.

Bev Report 5: significant improvement

Out of ICU at last! Hopefully not to see it again. Down to just a couple of tubes. Swelling way down, heart rate stabilizing. Voice coming back. Much more alert. White count was up this morning, but that's because she has a "touch of pneumonia". Never thought I'd be relieved to hear somebody had pneumonia, but it beats another abscess or other nasty internal infection. The critical care doc from the ICU paid a visit while we were there tonight, and he's personally overseeing her until she's out of danger. I think he's tired of seeing her in the ICU, too, and is going to be riding herd on the staff to make sure she gets the best care.