Thursday, August 18th

This morning started out well. We met with her surgeon. Even though Mama had passed out last night, he wasn’t worried about it. He agreed with the doctors last night and felt that her already fragile and weak body just got too overheated in the warm and steamy bathroom and the blood wasn’t circulating properly. He was encouraged to hear the Mama drank an 8oz Chai Tea this morning and had kept it down. In fact, over the last couple days the food has been able to be kept down. He encouraged her to try to eat at least 1,000 calories. If he is able to do it consistently, he would feel comfortable removing the TPA (IV nutrition). That became Mama’s goal today. She did so well. I am not sure if she reached the 1,000 calories, but if not, she would have been really close.

Late afternoon and this evening, Mama has been feeling pretty bad and in quite a bit of discomfort. We have a real sweet little nurse who has taken extra measures to make her more comfortable. She added an egg-crate pad to her bed as well as ordered pain patches for her aching back and sides. Mama is exhausted and has had a lot of interruptions to her rest from vitals being taken, meds given, etc. We have asked our nurse if there’s anyway her vitals and interruptions to her sleep could be minimized so that she can get some uninterrupted sleep. She will be working with the team of doctors to see what they can do. Daddy’s nerves are shot. After all, he is her protector and there is much he can do to make her more comfortable. Please pray for Daddy. This has been so hard on him.

Mama’s nutrition will only be going in for 12 hours now. It will be wonderful to get a break for the IV pole tomorrow. She is trying to take in more fluids so that the transition to home is an easier one. We are hopeful for a better day tomorrow. However, we are thankful for the progress in Mama’s eating today. It is one step closer to feeling better.

With love and appreciation,

Carmen & family