Happy Thanksgiving

Yeah....they pulled the drainage tube this morning....that is something to be thankful for!!!!!

Yesterday at 2:00pm the surgeons ordered a CT scan to see if there was still drainage in her stomach....eight hours later they came back to say there was some, but they think the body could just reabsorb it and there didn't appear to be an infection. I told them I wanted the tube out....the lead surgeon seemed surprised. He looked at the group and after I pled my case they agreed they would pull it in the morning. The nurse and I did are best to convince them to pull the tube right then and there. They told us they wanted to run a few more tests to see what was causing temp spikes and see if they could find source of infection.

Well....needless to say all the tests came back negative so while they still questioned the source of infection the tube would come out in the morning! Arrrrrggghhhhhh. Lisa kept spiking all night and threw up as well...our nurse made sure to let the surgeons know every time something happened. At 2:00 am one of the surgeons came back to reiterate the risks of pulling the tube out at night....piece could break off, there's no other surgeons in the house, no anesthesia available, etc...there was a slim chance of something going wrong, butttttttt if I really wanted he could pull the tube by himself....well...hmm...did I really want to be the one to blame if something went wrong...no...so I told him we would wait until morning.

Surgeons rounded at 8:30am today and I advised them that it would be a good time to pull the tube because it was the most mellow I'd seen Lisa in two days. They said they'd be back in an hour. They were and lo and behold it was the same surgeon from 2:00 am and the same risks as last night and the same limited staff, but now that he had time to rethink the situation, it wasn't going to be too bad and they would just give her morphine and it'd be over in a second....hmm amazing how the morning makes things seem so different. Anyway, the tube got pulled, Lisa screamed no more than normal and it was done and it was out.

She's complaining a lot less of pain, but is still pretty out of it. We're still trying to figure out what is causing the temp...she's gone as high as 104. She's a bit miserable but she's still fighting and has asked to be out in the playroom even if it means just sitting in her wheelchair. The surgeons finally prescribed some heavy dose antibiotics...so hopefully soon we will be past this. If her temp stops spiking by tomorrow, docs will bring her in for chemo next week when Maranda comes in.

It's been a good thanksgiving...the tube is out and two different families donated tons of food so we've had plenty too eat. Other families have their kids up here so it's been busy and loud just like our normal thanksgivings and there are plenty of movies to pick from and veg out.

Lots of things to be thankful for.....spouses, children, family, friends, nurses, doctors, jobs, homes.......from big things to small things. My big thing that I'm thankful for is strength, my small thing is for the Christmas tree lights I saw yesterday that made my drive to the hospital more scenic. What small thing are you thankful for?