Day 13 in the hospital

Well, Carly remains in the hospital recovering. Long ago there was some hope that she might be able to go home in time for Christmas... that day has obviously come and gone. This has been quite a unique Christmas for our family!

Her past few days have had their ups and downs, thankfully more ups than downs. For physical therapy she goes on long walks around the floor. She has to lug her IV pole around but other than that she is tube free! Pain is still an issue for her, but I think she is becoming more tolerant of it. Food is being reintroduced slowly, for the second time. The first attempts to start her back on food were thwarted by a paralytic ileus (intestines not being quite ready for food) Now she is finally having a bit of an appetite returning and has progressed from clear liquids to liquids, to bland soft food, to bland food.

Her CT scans and x-rays are showing that there is still fluid surrounding the healing kidney. If you are looking for specifics to pray for, please pray that the body quickly reabsorb this fluid. The urologist had scheduled surgery to drain this fluid this morning, but canceled it since she is showing improvement in her activity and appetite.

I am a little hesitant to mention this b/c whenever we have good news, a setback sometimes follows- There is talk of maybe her going home this week. This is what I am also praying for! She has been such a trooper, but she is SO tired of being in the hospital. It would be nice to have everyone home so we can be all together as a family and finally have our Christmas, even if it is a little late.