I was reminded today that this is not the first of Aaron's birthday's that we've spent with Ron in the hospital. Twenty years ago we were at Baylor Hospital in Dallas where Ron had bypass surgery on the artery leading to his right kidney. He had suffered a ruptured aneurysm on the left artery that caused him to lose his left kidney 6 months earlier! It was during this trying time that Ron came to know Jesus Christ as his Saviour. But that's another story!
This afternoon was a busy one for Ron. When I stepped out for lunch, he called me to say they had come in and said he was going to have a fistula-gram but he wasn't sure when. I was back up to his room within 15 minutes and he was already gone! He was down for a couple of hours and when he returned he was happy to tell me they feel he is ready to try tube feeding again! So, tomorrow they will begin feeding him directly into his intestines through the lower tube. Please pray this all goes well, he really needs the more substantial, direct nutrition this will offer.
After he returned from Radiology, PT arrived. He walked with a cane to the end of the hallway and back (resting at the end of the hall). He looked better this time walking with it. Not so unsteady. It's still very tiring for him and his heart rate really gets up there! PT feels he has regressed some. His stamina is not the same and she was detected a little less strength.
Shortly after PT got him back in bed, the wound care specialist came in to change his wound vac! Poor guy, he was exhausted already and then the pain of the wound vac change really wiped him out! The wound is healing but they weren't as impressed with his progress as they had been last week. They said they don't want him going home while he still has the Wound vac and they know docs are talking about possibly around the 16-18th but said it may have to be delayed. Ron and I talked about it and agree we don't want him going home with the Wound Vac, either.
Next on the agenda, was PICC line and Central Line dressing changes (which are done weekly). Also a little painful because of all the tape removal and it tends to tug on the stitiches that keep each of these lines in place.
So, this evening he was a little groggy and loopy from all the morphine he had taken throughout the afternoon. But we did get exercises done and a walk in around 10PM and finally a bath and hair washing before tucking him in for the night!
I spoke with Dr. Shires this evening and he was very pleased with the results of this latest test. He said "everything looked dramatically good". Even the tunnels where the tubes had been (that they removed last week) had closed down. He also said that Ron's White Blood Cell Count is down to NORMAL!!! I don't think that has happened since before he was hospitalized in October! Aside from Ron's continued weakness, Dr. Shires feels he's made a turn for the better in the last few days! Thank you, Lord!!!
Not sure if I've mentioned this but I had started to feel a little guilty for spending so much money staying here at Hotel Presby but was having a hard time even thinking about what that would mean. Their policy here is to pay every time your bill reaches the $500 dollar mark and I had already paid twice. One day runs into another around here but I thought it was past time to pay again and had asked a couple of times in passing and they said they'd let me know when it was due. It was a little disconcerting because I didn't want to have to pay a huge lump sum because of someone's mistake so I stopped at the desk to inquire again when they told me as of January 4, I was placed on the long term rate which is only $20 per day (as opposed to the usual $63). What a blessing!!! Ron and I both feel between the cost of gas and my time, it would be silly to not stay here! God continues to take care of everything!
Tonight, I was reading in Streams in the Desert. Scripture reference was Isaiah 58:14:
"I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land."
"the sufferings of life are God's winds. Sometimes they blow against us and are very strong. They are His hurricanes, taking our lives to higher levels, toward His heavens....When the storms of life appear, the atmosphere is changed, purified, filled with new life, and part of heaven is brought down to earth."
Good night, all! Or, most likely, it will be good morning!
No comments:
Post a Comment