Recovery Day 11

Sorry I was lazy and didn't post yesterday, but yesterday was another good day. They reduced Jennie's PCA in half and went ahead with all of her oral pain meds. They removed the staples from Jennie's incision yesterday and replaced them with steri-strips. Dr. Sutherland wanted this done after he came in and saw how irritated Jennie's skin was from the staples. The wound did open up some at the top after the staples were removed, but the residents expected this and said it would help the wound heal to let it drain a bit.

Today they will be lowering the PCA, but it sounds like they aren't planning on totally doing away with it in time for discharge today. Jennie was hoping to get out today, but I don't think staying one more night will be that bad. Hopefully tomorrow will be the day they release her. Her incision is still open at the top and the doctors are going to come back and pack itwith dressing. The gauze they covered it with is bloody, but we won't know if it is any worse until they come and take the covering off.

Over the last few days Jennie has met 2 other auto-islet cell transplant patients on the floor, and we have all enjoyed meeting these other 2 ladies and getting to talk to them and their families about their struggles. The first girl is Sara, who just had the procedure done on Thursday last week. It sounds like Dr. Sutherland was able to operate on her before the chronic pancreatitis got too bad, and she is recovering very well. Her mom is also a former nurse, so she and Rita have really been able to talk and bond through the last few days. The second lady's name is Sandy, and she had the transplant done in 2006 and just had the subtotal colectomy done the same day as Jennie's surgery. She is also planning on coming back in about 6 weeks to have the Roux-en-y procedure done also like Jennie. Her road has been a little more difficult like Jennie's, so it has been nice for Jennie to see another patient who has had to deal with these issues. Hopefully her recovery will be swift and these will be the last surgeries she needs. Please pray for both of the women also, they are both very nice and Jennie has really bonded with them in a short time.

On a lighter note, here is a funny story that happened a few days ago. This happened just a day or two after Jennie began getting up out of the bed. Rita and I were both here and were getting the IVs unplugged, and getting Jennie's slippers and gown together as she was attempting to get out of bed. All of a sudden we hear a grunt and both of us looked over to see Jennie on the edge of the bed flailing her arms. Neither of us was sure what Jennie was doing, but after a second I grabbed her arm and helped her up. It turns out she apparently was falling backwards a bit, although neither one of us could tell at the time. We have since referred to this as the turtle incident because Jennie looked just like a turtle trying to get off his back. Luckily Jennie didn't get hurt and we can laugh about it now.

Please keep Jennie in your prayers, we are hoping she will be out of here soon!