Can we go home yet?

Yes. No. Maybe.

Thursday was rough. A lot of pain. Zero sleep. Morphine doesn't work for Nick to reduce pain, just makes him sleepy and breathe very shallow, which sets off the alarm. Issues with the dreaded catheter; all I will say is that I saw Nick up all night Thursday night doing everything humanly possible to avoid it on Friday. He avoided it :)

Friday was better but we are encountering various opinions, depending upon which doctor or nurse you talk to. Morning doctors said, "You can have something to drink this afternoon." Yay! Afternoon nurses said, "No way, nothing to drink for another 2-3 days." Crap. Those little green sponges on a stick aren't cutting it for Nick. He also ran a fever in the evening from 101.5 to 98, up and down. Crap.

Saturday morning doctors said, "Walk a bit, get your colon and kidneys moving a bit and you are outta here this afternoon. We'll even take out your drain tube, too." Yay! I actually said, "Hallelujah!" to that statement as we weren't looking forward to dealing with the drain tube at home; quite certain I'd faint and Nick would be stuck trying to figure it out on his own. Afternoon nurses said, "No way. You need to be eating more, walking more and off the pain pump." Crap. Again, he ran a fever from 8:00 to midnight. However, he was diligent walking the hospital floors, off the pain pump, ate breakfast, lunch and dinner and sleeping better.

This morning, we didn't believe the doctors and just waited for the nurses. Docs finally got wise and took a blood sample. Results showed Nick's hemoglobin and hematocrit levels are critically low and his white cell counts are high. He may have an infection, he may not. He may have internal bleeding, but he isn't showing any other symptoms (light headed when walking, pain or distention when pressing his belly). Nurses say he'll have a blood transfusion with at least 2 pints of blood; docs say they'll wait until this afternoon when they retest his blood. You know who we believe. He's all set up and ready for the blood. We're obviously not going home today. Sorry, Kelli, Kailey and McKell - he won't be able to see your welcome home sign yet, but we did email him a picture.

I've spent every night here with Nick, along with my favorite pillow and blanket. I'm sure Nick is wondering how old he has to be before I'm not so maternal, but it sure isn't age 20! Todd may take tonight so I can check in with the rest of my family. We really have a fantastic support system and I'm so very, very grateful. Please keep the prayers coming, he isn't over the hump yet!

I have our trip to Boston all booked for next Saturday to meet with Dr. Albritton and Dr. Grier. May have to postpone. One of our obvious frustrations is who is the lead doctor monitoring Nick? You can bet I'll be on the phone tomorrow morning asking questions.

Positive note: one of Nick's favorite nurses, Jay, was on the floor last night and came in to say hello. He's a great guy and it was nice to see him; made both Nick and I smile.

With love,
Lori