Friends gather to help Nan

Dear Family and Friends,
Nan is snoring gently as I write. Let me tell you she deserves her rest tonight, what a day she has had. After finding the large amount of bleeding last night I spent the night sleeping lightly and checking to see if there was new drainage. During the night Marilyn's excellent packing held pretty darn well but this morning Marilyn discovered some ongoing drainage. Sylvia called to say she was coming to visit and help and I asked her if she could help fund the jell stuff which is created especially to stop bleeding, Steve was kind enough to run to the hospital between patients and snagged some of it. So Sylvia arrived with the needed material. Terry however was busy doing work on picc lines and was not able to come until this afternoon. Together they unpacked the site and found massive bleeding and a hole oozing blood that was about as big as a half dollar. It was much larger than what we had seen last night. Terry did her best to stanch the bleeding, repacked carefully and they began to change her gown, change the linen and clean her up. Suddenly a new line of blood appeared across her belly, I nearly fainted, I was so disappointed. Then they discovered the colostomy had failed and was spilling its stinky fluid. Terry does not think it is blood, rather just normal bowel stuff. So they worked hard and got her cleaned up again. All of this was very trying and at one point Terry thought nan might be dying as they worked. However she was very much still alive.
After getting her settled Nan was awake briefly and then fell fast asleep. She has rested most of the time since then. When she does awake her voice is very quiet and she is so so tired.
Late this afternoon I reached Critical Care Home Health to discover that Nan's white count has gone crazy, its up from 13 to 26. I asked them for immediate antibiotics and they called the doctor. However we are not be allowed any antibiotics until next Sunday at the earliest. 72 hours after this morning's last antibiotic Terry will take blood cultures, then two days later if something grows out, only then will new antibiotics be granted. I guess you can tell how bewildered I am with this strange behavior. If we were in the hospital she would be getting three different kinds of antibiotics every day and in a few days the infection would be controlled. Not this time. Our only option is to call 911 and have her transported in a bumpy ambulance to the ER where hours later she will be admitted to a room and then we will face the same doctors we have now. So we are pretty well stuck. Nan has a raging infection which is not being treated. There is a general consensus that mom has a very short time to live. Her breathing is more labored but her vitals are holding strong.
The house has been humming with activity today, Connie has been cleaning, Art doing special projects like removing the battery backup for the office computers and setting up the snow globe Nan and I bought after Christmas last year. Of course it was broken so he had to fix it too but hours later it is blowing snow as cute as can be. Sylvia has been organizing medical supplies from all over the house to great effect. Marilyn has been keeping watch over Nan and Ive been on the phone, trying to do some business, more on the phone time.
So this evening we are finally sitting and relaxing. Pam is on her way from Stockton to visit for a bit and I need to take some pills for a change.
Tonight we pray for Jesus to hold Nan's bleeding in check, for God to do what we can't do, that is control the infection and mostly for nan to have peace in her heart.
What a comfort it has been today to have these precious dedicated friends with us. They have helped in amazing ways today and really helped Nan a lot. I am so grateful for their help. Terry has been a very big help to us and continues to be the person we turn to most for medical issues.
We are all disappointed in the doctors decision today but short of calling 911 we are stuck with it.
Thank you for the 12 messages to the blog today. I have read every one and reread them again and again, soaking in their words and emotions.
So we send our love,

tim and nan and marilyn and pam