Wednesday morning report

Dear Friends,
Nan and I made it through the night. Nan did not sleep well last night and ended up watching TV for part of the night. I slept on the cot in the ICU waiting room and did fine, wasn't the Hilton but the room was dark, the bed was warm and the first time I woke was 4:30, then 5:30 and finally around 6 I got up. People were starting to be noisy in the hall and the room was needed for regular people who were visiting ICU patients. So up and in to see how Nan did. Dr. Greenberg, the covering surgeon was here and when she told Nan that probably by the end of the week she could drink and begin eating I thought Nan's heart would break. Her face was a mask of discouragement and defeat. Nan knows inside that she needs to avoid pnemonia which could happen if her throat is not ready yet to swallow properly but knowing it intellectually is one thing but accepting it after 3 weeks of nothing is totally different. Nan is a tough cookie but even people with extremely strong willpower can have moments of doubt and some down time.
If she could sleep well at night this process of recovery would be enhanced. It is true that she had several segments of sleep time yesterday sometimes sleeping for up to a couple hours at a time. So she is getting some rest.
Loren is our nurse today and she takes such good care of Nan. She is gentle, kind, professional and like Amy can insist that Nan stay up longer in the chair or get up to walk and Nan will do it. At this moment Mary is giving Nan a 3 and 1/2 hour dialysis treatment. The hope is that this may be one of the last needed as the kidneys seem to be doing a bit better. It now appears that Nan may be transferred to the main floor if they can find a bed in the area where Dr. Greenberg thinks is right for her. She will also have the barium throat study to see how her throat is swallowing at some point. It was supposed to be yesterday but things don't always happen on time here. Nan has a pain going on in her left leg, something that has been there but is worse today so Loren will let the doctors know. We need to be especially careful right now since she had a couple days without heprin and she could be getting a blood clot. Oh boy the challenges facing this dear woman.
She is now well into her dialysis and the machine is now behaving. At first the lines were not working well and so it was start and stop. The lady today is not impressive for her personality like all the other dialysis people have been. She is competent just not very social. To get things working she took away Nan's pillow but after awhile I noticed that Nan had moved the pillow back into place. Dialysis makes a person cold since it has a unit of blood out of the body at room temperature at all times during the 3 and 1/2 hours so we need to keep Nan's blankets around her to keep her warm. Thats my job.
I think we need prayers today for us to stay the course. It has been a long time and Nan and I are not patient people at all. We are used to doing things, not thinking about them and just lying here for days is really hard to take.
Dana and Marilyn will arrive between 9:30 and 10 this morning and that should give Nan a boost. We appreciate how supportive our families have been to us and some of you have been so wonderful in your daily emails of encouragement and hope. The cards are carefully read and set up in the room and phone calls are nice too.
We ask that you remember Rick today as he faces his medical day in Houston and also our friend Judy.

Thanks for your prayers and concern,

lov
tim and nan
PS no new room number yet but the mail room will find her where ever she is moved.