Thursday, May 05, 2016

Breaking out!

All of the daily encouragements are gone, it's sunny outside and Abby is doing well enough to get out of here!

The doctors came around this morning and Abby was her smiley and happy self! She did everything they said she had to do yesterday, drank the prescribed amount of fluids, did her walks, took her meds and kept her nausea under control.

I know that she doesn't' understand sociology or group dynamics but she may have a future leadership role coming in her future. Today on our required walk around the floor, she passed by her group of doctors that were visiting another patient, caught there eyes, waved and said, "hello everyone!" with a smile on her face. I don't think it was intentional, that's just Abby. But, at the same time, that was a brilliant moment that I really think solidified their decision to release her today. 

Keep on smiling kid, you are amazing!

Off to go pack up, and take a lot of load out to the car. It's amazing how much stuff can be collected in a small room over the course of 4 weeks.

Whoooooo hooooo!

Wednesday, May 04, 2016

Still a chance...

I just got to talk to the team of docs in the hall about Abby. There is still a chance that she could go home (or to the apartment) tomorrow and I'm going to do all that I can to help move Abby in that direction. Oh I hope she can find the strength to persevere this afternoon. She is a trooper but the news that she might not be able to get out yesterday really took the wind out of her sails and she has been a bit down whenever they talk about it. I think she is starting to wonder if she can trust what the docs are telling her about her release date.

Could you her help by praying these 3 things:
  • That Abby's nausea will go away and/or be able to be managed by medications.
  • That Abby will choose to (and feel good enough to) drink more fluids?
  • And specifically that Dr. Craddock would feel comfortable with Abby's progress tomorrow and discharge her.
I am confident that the Drs. will make the best medical decisions possible for Abby.  Right now it is just a battle in my mind to submit to this authority in our life.  The docs are in charge and I need to honor them in that role.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

So, as is often true, we are going to take it one day at a time!


Tuesday, May 03, 2016

Independence Day? Not quite.

Hey all,

Update: 12:30pm
Things are a bit up-in-the-air but overall pretty good.  The biggest update is that Abby is having some stomach pain and a low-grade fever right now so hopefully it is nothing and will pass. If not we may have to stay longer than we were anticipating. If she spikes a fever, then of course we would have to stay in but if not we might be able to get out Thursday.

Original Post:
Abby's ANC is at 700 today, 610 yesterday, 410 the day before and 500+ 4 days ago.  So, she is on her 2nd consecutive day of +500 meaning that she may be able to get out tomorrow! We are sure praying for that to be the case.  This tummy pain could push it back to Thursday or even next week but hopefully they'll let her go tomorrow. We'll see.

Abby is ready to be out. It's officially Day +20 today but Abby's been in Denver for a long time, since the beginning of April I believe, I think she started radiation on the 5th and she is ready for a full night of sleep without beeping alarms, blood pressure cuffs, and pulseOx noises.

Yesterday we got to start our "Independence Day" training. Basically this is the day that we get to give all of her meds, do her central line care, and show the hospital that we are capable of fulling taking care of her while we are out of the apartment.

Tiffany and I started yesterday with a couple of cap changes on her double lumen Broviac line.  Then Tiffany got to call the nurse to tell her when Abby needed meds, and set an alarm to get up at 2am and 5am to give the meds to Abby. Tiffany is pretty tired today, the night nurse is a great nurse but is also really loud. We actually joke that it's like having a truck in your room during the night. The nurse was in a lot last night because Abby had to get platelets and red blood cells which is a lot to do in the middle of the night. Hopefully Tiffany can get a nap today.

Praying that the fever stays away, the stomach pain goes away and that they let us out soon.