Rough Patch

Mike's recovery has hit a rough patch.  A home care nurse checks in on him every other day and his test results are causing some concern.  His blood pressure has dropped and his sodium levels are extremely low.  Tomorrow the nurse will give him a sodium transfusion.  He doesn't feel well and hasn't been able to eat much. 

He has a follow up appointment with the surgeon this Friday.  In the meantime, prayers would be much appreciated.  He looks and feels a lot worse than he did last week while he was still in the hospital.

To the HP crew that sent him a Kindle - he received it yesterday and is really touched by the gesture.  Once he starts feeling better, it will get a lot of use.  Thanks so much!

Day Eleven

Mike has been discharged and is back at home!  Thank you to everyone for keeping him and our family in your thoughts and prayers.  They have definitely been appreciated.  We will continue to post updates relevant to his  recovery, but probably not every day from now on.  Thanks again!

Day Ten

Mike was supposed to be discharged from the hospital this afternoon.  However, the doctor who ordered the discharge left before signing the papers (yes, really), and the resident on duty refuses to sign them in his place.  The first doctor and the surgeon have been paged, but it's not likely either will show up at the hospital to discharge him.  It looks like it is going to be Monday now for sure.

Day Nine

Mike is still in the hospital - hopefully he will be discharged tomorrow.

We would like to send a big thank you to the ladies of Urology of Indiana (where Karen works) for buying two huge baskets full of groceries and making several meals for Mike and Karen to enjoy when he gets home from the hospital.  We are just so touched by the thoughtfulness and the support throughout this whole ordeal.

Day Eight

Mike is not going home today.  The surgeon came by and said she wants to keep him a few more days to get his fluids in balance.  Everything else looks good, he's eating better, and he continues to get his strength back, but she just doesn't want to send him home with an IV.  He is OK with this.  So, he might get discharged on Saturday or Sunday - we just don't know at this point.  We'll let you know!

P.S.  He had a DQ shake on Wednesday and said it was the best shake he ever tasted! 

Day Seven

It's one week post-surgery already!  This week passed faster than those 8 hours did while Mike was in surgery! (At least for us - Mike might beg to differ). :)  There's really nothing new to report.  He's still in the hospital and might get discharged tomorrow.  He's also a little dehydrated today so they might have to hook him back up to an IV for fluids.  Other than that, he's doing well.  He got to read the blog comments today and the first thing he said was, "The power of prayer is real."  Amen to that.

Day Six, Part II

Mike is staying put!  This is a relief.  The residents wanted him discharged, but the surgeon said he is not ready yet and that Friday is a more reasonable expectation for going home.

He still hasn't gotten that shake yet, for those of you that asked :), but Karen is taking him one this evening.  The flower/plant/fruit restriction is still in effect, but he did get flowers delivered yesterday in spite of it.

He had the TV on today and was watching the news, which means his vision is getting back to normal.  For a while there it was pretty blurry.  He's doing great on his breathing treatments and isn't hooked up to any IVs anymore.  He still looks yellow, but the doctors aren't concerned.  They did say it could either be from the red cells breaking down in his spleen or from the functionality of his liver.  They are monitoring it, but since they don't seemed to be worried, we won't worry either.

Thanks for keeping Mike in your thoughts and prayers!  We're going to print off the blog comments and take them to him tomorrow so he can read for himself all of your kind words. :)