I was afraid this would happen...this week is starting to blur together. Thankfully, I've been journaling each day so that we can look back and reflect one day. The Lord has been good to us. Michael has done very well with his recovery so far and the doctors hope to discharge him on Sunday. He is still in pain, and has felt pretty exhausted, but overall, he has done wonderfully. Each day he has been determined to walk a little bit, and each day he makes it further away from our room. Today he made one lap all the way around the west wing!
Sunday night was the last time he ate a normal meal, but tomorrow, he has been given the green light to eat what he feels like he can handle. He hasn't complained about being hungry {part of that may be all the unpleasant smells being on the digestive health floor}.
Unfortunately, he has had an interesting roommate and there seems to be nothing that we can do about it except pray that he gets discharged/moved soon! Michael said he yelled the whole night last night and refused to let the nurses close the door or turn the light off. He has been a very stubborn patient for the nurses, refusing to do as they ask. This morning right before I arrived {thankfully}, he pulled out his own catheter. The scene upon my arrival was.not.pretty. To top matters off, he only speaks & understands spanish. The nurses do not speak or understand spanish. So Michael did not sleep well, even with his ear plugs in.
Last night was the first night I didn't sleep at the hospital. I found out I was much more tired than I thought I was when I slept through my alarm this morning and woke up at 10am.
Dr. Friel, the surgeon, came in again today. He told us that the results from testing the colon are not back yet, but that he would be very surprised if it was crohns. What an answer to prayer that would be. And a possibility that we never even knew until a couple of weeks ago. Basically, for those who want to know why this is such a big deal, both ulcerative colitis and crohns are very similar in nature and are treated with the same medications etc. Crohns can affect any digestive organ from the throat to the rectum. Colitis affects the colon only. Michael had a diseased colon and it was completely removed on Tuesday. So if the test comes back that it is colitis, the disease is gone. So we wait and trust that God will do what is best for His glory!
We have been encouraged through friends visiting, texting, calling, notes, flowers...we know the body of Christ is praying for us and we are soooo grateful for your love & support. I honestly don't know how people deal with times like this without Christ.
Please continue to pray for baby Bradley, our neighbor's baby in the PICU on floor 7. I've been able to spend some time with LeeAnn, and progress is very slow for Bradley. He is still on the ventilator, but they are hoping he will be strong enough for him to come off of it this weekend. That is the first big step in his recovery. He is absolutely precious, even all hooked up to the machines. For about an hour he gripped my finger...his tiny hand is about the size of the top of my index finger.
{home for the week}
{since I've been prohibited from posting any pictures of the patient, I've resorted to posting pictures of his room sign}
{glad to have found this place a little walk away from the hospital}
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