Tuesday is better!

Dan is doing better today as Ashley's blog will tell you. Cards, calls, emails are welcome! as are your continued prayers.

Psalm 46:10-11
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Tuesday, january 19, 2010

Hurry up and wait
I looked at the clock and just realized that I haven't updated everyone today! Oops. My folks came to visit, I went to the Sizeloves to take a shower, went for lunch, and just hung out with Mom and Dad. Felt so nice to have them around. (Thanks for doing my laundry, Mom!)

Today is another day of waiting, which is something we are going to be doing a lot of in the near future.

We were told to wait patiently for the PICC nurse...and she showed up early! The line insertion went by the textbook, and Dan said it barely hurt this time. Luckily, his PICC nurse has been doing it for 19 years and teaches all the other PICC nurses. She had lots of stories, explained the newer technology they're using now, and gave me tips on getting into oncology nursing as that was her old field. She loves to teach, so she had an eager student for a while.

We were also told to wait for Dan to feel better after starting PPN (partial parenteral nutrition) last night...instead, he woke up feeling somewhat better. He even woke me up this morning with all of his energy. Though he still wants real food, he feels as though he is getting much better nutrition to keep him running on more than fumes. He'll be starting TPN (total parenteral nutrition) tonight through his PICC.

The biggest things we are waiting for are his drains to dry up and his wound to heal. These will keep us waiting for quite a while. The docs are hoping his pancreas (and now biliary anastomosis) will heal quickly while Dan is resting his bowels. One of the drains began putting out a new color of drainage: bile green. So, that means another anastomosis is leaking a bit. It is low output (by the doc's estimate), so they are simply watching it for now. The pancreas is slowing a little, but only a little.

Dan's wound got some special cleaning attention this morning from McGreeky. He spent a little time cleaning out the "nooks and crannies" before packing it. He feels that it is improving, albeit slowly. He is contemplating using a wound-vac to speed the healing, but the wound has to be very clean before that can happen. Perhaps a couple more days. Another doc just stopped by to see Dan's most recent dressing change and was surprised how good it looked this evening..."improving by leaps and bounds," she said.

So, now, we wait. It really does feel like we're rushing to get things done to get out of here, but it really won't be soon. Dan's really hoping for discharge this weekend, but we both know that he is safe here. Better to have most of the surprises occur at the hospital rather than at home!
Dan is getting restless and a little bored, so I'm trying to be creative. Any ideas for "fun" things to do in the hospital?

Prayer Requests:
* Continued healing of the wound by "leaps and bounds"
* Drying up of the pancreatic/biliary leaks (quickly!)
* Lack of hunger for Dan while NPO on TPN
* Safety for PICC line--no placement probs, infections or mix-ups
* Endurance and encouragement
* NO MORE COMPLICATIONS
* God's glory to be shown throughout this situation