Late friday evening

Dear Friends and Family,

Another big day. Nan is now resting quietly but awake after sleeping for awhile. We have been reflecting on the day which has yielded some help. Barb and Gerry left our home at 8:30 headed for Sacramento and their own bed tonight. What a total blessing they have been on all fronts. Barb has been with Nan all day thursday and today while Gerry and I went out seeing properties nearby. They have talked, watched Price if Right together, Barb discovered a card game on the laptop and they have slept some. Barb being here has helped Nan pass the time waiting to hear news from the doctors. Today several different doctors visited. In summary they are saying that the help Nan needs is beyond the ability of this facility so they are contacting Dr. Warren at UCSF to see if he will accept Nan as a patient and if there are beds available for Nan to occupy. It was mid afternoon when Dr. Ganey was here so we doubt anything will happen this weekend regarding moving to SF. Nan's fever moves up an down from normal to 101 so more blood cultures were taken.

It seems that the general conclusions at this point are: the right uriter which has a stent keeping it open where there were tumors around it has now pretty well plugged. It needs to be removed. When it started to become plugged urine forced its way through the wall and found an opening into Nan's incision. So concensus seems to suggest that the stent be removed, this can be done through the urostomy opening on Nan's right side. A scope or tiny camera will be used to guide as they go down the tube and find and remove the stent. I would guess that they will then use the scope to try to locate where the uriter is leaking and either try to repair it or plug it somehow. The earlier suggestion that Nan's abdominal cavity was filled with urine is not the current thinking. The infectious specialist thinks there might be a small pocket or abcess where the leaking is taking place. At this time the plan is to make the move to UCSF as soon as they say yes and keep a close eye on temps, and if there are any complications then intervential radiology here in Concord would try to fix things. So we wait.

Nan has had a good day, had three meals, cream of wheat, soup for lunch and soup for dinner. There were popsickles, pineapple juice also. Nan handled all of this pretty well without nausea. She has gained weight, 114 today which is up from the low point of 97 after surgery. She looks good and in general feels good. She takes a minimal amount of dilatud for pain as needed. The pain she feels is in the area directly around her incision wound. This afternoon she expressed a desire to walk so when I got back we did just that. She walked around the nursing station and is the strongest I have seen her in a very long time. We managed to do this without breaking the tenuous bond that keeps the fluid in a capture system. Then back to bed and rest. For awhile Nan was sleeping, Gerry was sleeping and I was on the floor taking a nap myself. Barb was playing the card game.

About 5 Barb, Gerry and I left for Olive Garden, taking back roads we avoided traffic and were soon eating salad and eggplant parm. Then to the house for them to get their stuff and for me to pick up the motorhome and drive back. I arrived at 9:45 and am in the room with Nan.

A high high point of this day was Irene Wing coming to visit Nan. She brought beautiful flowers and a book to share with Keanna on sunday and was her wonderful self, inspiring Nan with hope and courage. Irene is a special person that ends up being God's blessing to each of us. She and Barb enjoyed meeting and she stayed for several hours before having to head back. Thank you so much for coming Irene. One feels heaven visited when Irene is able to be here.

We have heard that Dolly is coming tomorrow and we look forward to seeing her again. She is another source of great faith and courage. We love to see her and to catch up on her interesting life. It will help us celebrate the Sabbath to have her here. We hope to see others if they have the time and are free to visit. Nan is in a private room and we have several chairs. She tells me she has a lovely view of the BART tracks and enjoys seeing the train go by during the night. We have also heard rumors that Pam might be able to come as she now feels better. We hope so. Being in the hospital without Pam never seems right.

So we know a little more than a week ago and Nan certainly feels better than she did a week ago. Our prayer continues to be, please Lord heal the leaking, we are not particular about how the leak is healed, a miracle, a radiologist, a urologist, a surgeon. We just seek God's healing and most important His will be done.

Please join us in seeking God's special blessings for Nan's recovery.

love

tim and nan
ps
thanks Nikki and Jason for calling me today, ironic that both of you had phones cut off while we were talking, as good as technology is its not perfect. Loved hearing from both of you wonderful children.