Wednesday, August 29, 2007

And it's Day 3....

This will be very brief, as I'm falling asleep. I'm used to keeping vampire hours, and this, normally, is a perfect time for me to write. However, since I'm getting up early in the mornings (Trish can't believe it), I'm off my "normal" schedule.
Anyway... here goes:
Trish continues to improve. She was sitting up, and even doing a little walking today, and the doctors (in their traditional cautious way) were giving her thumbs up. Her spirits seem to be good, but as her body heals and wakes up, the annoyances of a hospital stay become more acute.
The irritation caused by the tube that runs from her nose, down her throat, and into her stomach is the worst thing. "All perfectly normal" as Doctor Kuchenbecker pronounced, but that doesn't make it less irritating. The removal of the tube depends on a test which involves her drinking a stuff-that's-visible-to-x-rays-liquid (there's a perfectly good word for this class of fluids, but I can't remember it now) and then, after she ingests said fluid, taking an x-ray to check for leaks. They want to keep the tube in place until they are sure they want it out... putting it BACK if they need to would be risking trauma.
The critical factor, since this will be the FIRST thing she ingests by mouth, is that they want to be sure that her stomach is ready for the concoction (there is an arcane formula to establish this, but I don't know all the details). So... it may be a few days before they can do that... Hopefully, by Friday... but it may even be Monday.
In the meantime, though Trish can talk (softly, but distinctly) it soon grows VERY irritating for her to do so. With that in mind, she's asked me to ask any of YOU who might feel so inclined, to NOT visit her until she feels up to it. I suggested to her that people may just want to SEE her, and they would understand if she couldn't talk, but she would be uncomfortable NOT talking, and in pain if she WAS talking.... so she'd rather put off the whole thing for a few days (This includes phone calls as well... though if there's someone in the room with her, they can play middle-man on the phone... but if she's alone in the room, with all the tubes, it's difficult for her to even answer the phone... the hospital's ACCOUNTING department hasn't quite figured that out yet; though they are very pleasant when told they should call to ask about her social security number in a few days. They'll probably pleasantly assure me that they will when they call tomorrow as well).
Still she wanted me to tell you all that she knows you care, and she feels the love, and has appreciated the messages passed on to her... but she'd much rather tell you all about it in person when she can tell you all about it in person over a martini.
I'll also make sure she sees any replies to her blog, or any e-mails.

More news tomorrow.

2 comments:

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Thanks for the update Abdy...It's great to hear that she is doing so well...I know that tube must be so damn annoying...!
Do give her my love and a BIG HUG...And take one for yourself, my dear...You are a good and dear friend to be "there" in every way, including keeping us all up to date!

Rachel Hauck said...

Just found this blog... am thinking of you and praying for good health.

Rachel