thirst no more (4/28 update)

We were so happy to see our friend Cindi today! Cindi's in town visiting her friend Nancy (and now also Trish), so she and Nancy hung out with us for a while this afternoon. And then they took home my laundry to do. :) Not long after they left, a couple we didn't know walked in the door. At first Mom and I thought they had the wrong room, but then they explained that their son-in-law works for the same company as my dad. He'd told them about Mom being here. Knowing we were six hours away from home, they wanted to come see us and give their phone number in case we needed anything. How sweet is that?? 

Mom's had a pretty good day, but a very long one. The day started off with the good news that she was going to get to drink clear liquids! She's taken that very slowly, as her instructions were to "sip." She also started getting nutrition through her J-tube (feeding tube) today. That has also started very slowly and is being continuously administered by a pump. So far, she's tolerated the clear liquids/tube feedings well in that she hasn't had any nausea or vomiting. However, she has had some other "GI upset", if you will. Apparently this is not all that uncommon, but it is exhausting; we plan to ask Dr. Martin about getting some meds for this in the morning. Mom has also had issues with her J-tube today. It's functioning properly, but it's started draining a lot of fluid around the insertion site. This has resulted in numerous gown and a couple of linen changes today. All of this (trips to the bathroom plus wardrobe changes plus regular walking) has really worn Mom out today. She's especially tired and also hurting tonight. Her epidural wasn't cutting it, so her nurse just gave an IV pain med (the first she's gotten since surgery). She's feeling a little better now and is going to try to get some sleep. 

Prayer requests for tonight/tomorrow . . . a restful night (last night we were up and down a lot with trips to the bathroom) . . . better tolerance of the clear liquids/tube feedings . . . and good pain control (we're expecting them to take her epidural out tomorrow). 

I'm off to turn my couch into my bed. Goodnight all!