Coming Home Monday?

Sandy continues to get stronger each day. Just a week ago, it was a real struggle to walk even a lap around the floor. There were only a couple of brief periods during the day during which she had enough energy to even attempt it. Those periods usually fell in the mid to late morning or early afternoon. By afternoon, she was exhausted and required more pain medication that made her drowsy. Walking late in the day just wasn’t an option a week or even a few days ago.

Since they identified the bacteria causing the infection and have administered antibiotics, Sandy has been improving quickly. She has energy for extended periods, sometimes even hours at a time. I should probably qualify what “energy” is. She no longer drops off in the middle of sentences… she is fully engaged, able to move between her bed and a chair occasionally, and as mentally alert as someone can be on narcotics. That does not mean that she’s hitting tennis balls against the wall, though I think she is eager to do that sometime soon. It has also occurred to the girls and me that she could probably use Fiddlesticks in the room, though we’re not sure that the nurses on the floor would appreciate it. One nurse might. Maura, the Nurse Practitioner on the transplant team, might appreciate it—she played here at Maryvale and then at Notre Dame (Hannah and Haley have really enjoyed meeting her). Maura might actually encourage the Fiddlesticks.

Last evening, we got up and walked six laps on the floor. SIX LAPS without stopping. This is remarkable for a number of reasons, including the fact that it was at a time (in the early evening) when she has typically had ZERO energy. It is also remarkable because little things like her posture and gait have improved considerably. Riley would be so proud. Finally, I was impressed to see that she actually worked up a little bit of a sweat. Afterwards, she was actually grinning—I think she was proud of the sweat!

Dr. Cameron met with us last night to discuss her progress. They are very pleased with her recovery, especially now that the infection seems to have cleared. Assuming she remains free of infection, they will install a new PICC line over the weekend and see about sending her home late on Monday. She will still not be eating food, but at least she’ll be not eating food in her own home. She’ll be fed via the central line (Anna Nicole gets to come home) for some period, and will still have drains installed. I am sure we'll have home nursing care for a while, too. She’ll be spending a lot of time back at the hospital as an outpatient for a while, but she’ll get to return home each day.

Now that's progress.