I Never Liked Roller Coasters...

Last week, I tried to define each day as either a "good" day or a "bad" day.  That was going to be my gauge on this journey.  But unfortunately, what I realized today was that I cannot define this at the "day" level.  Instead, the day, like today, just "is"...and throughout today there were some "good" moments and then there were some "bad" moments.  Some describe this as a roller coaster and I would agree, my day--hour-by-hour--is a roller coaster of good and bad.  I try to be strong for Ed.  I try to keep a clear head and take many notes and apply my logical thinking and problem solving skills to help us make informed decisions.  But then I get smacked up side the head when I look at Ed laying in that hospital bed trying to battle all that is happening to his body.  I will be strong for him and I will find comfort and support from the many friends and family who are there to help and there to pray.  And I will ride this roller coaster as long as there is still some good mixed in with the bad, since I don't particularly care for the alternative.

So now that the emotional part of me is done writing today's intro, let's get down to facts about our day.

I attempted to go into the office today and, in fact, it was good to focus on work for a period of time.  That was, of course, until I got to the hospital and they were sharing "bad" (there's that word again) news with Ed and really needed me there.

Okay, sure, the doctors wouldn't call it "bad" news.  Rather, they are still concerned about the fluid in his abdomen which could be infected and is also preventing the wounds from healing.  So they wanted to put in a drain.  Dr. Gates came up and explained all about the drain (PleurX) to us--how it's inserted, how to drain it, etc.  After an ultrasound and the fact that you can't put in a drain if there's an infection, we agreed to have them draw fluid for analysis and while they were at it, also drain about a liter of fluid to help provide some relief.

Of course, I won't get on my soapbox about who knows what would have been done if I didn't press them to move in one or the other direction.  The fact was that Ed wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything after breakfast in case they did the procedure and now here we were at 3:30 PM and still no definitive answer.

So once we got things moving, they brought Ed down to Interventional Radiology where Dr. Gates and her staff ended up draining about 3 liters of fluid (which equalled about 6.8 lbs).  The liquid was "thick and icky" so it likely infected, but we will know more after testing.

We were then back up to Ed's room around 5 PM.  It was quite a busy and emotional day.  Needing to determine if he would have another surgery to put the drain in, then needing to move him to/from his bed to a stretcher for the procedure.  Then on top of that he hadn't eaten or drank anything since breakfast.  So it was a very draining day.

Good news is that the swelling in his legs is going down very slightly, but it went down.  Also, he didn't have any pain meds all days--went from 8 AM to 8 PM--which is quite amazing when he was getting them every 4 hours just yesterday.

Still concern about the liver and will watch the fluid accumulation in his abdomen.  He's already on antibiotics so by draining the fluid we're hoping it will be more effective.  Analysis of the fluid will also help to pinpoint appropriate antibiotics.

And the craziest thing is that on top of all this, we have a case manager coming in asking us which rehab facility we prefer and she's trying to secure a bed for Ed at one.  Like I even have a clue when he'll be able to get out of the hospital.  Whatever...I guess everyone has their job to do.

I will be back with Ed in the morning...too many curves in the roller coaster right now not to be together.

One day at a time...please keep up the continued prayers...