Moving right along

James continues to improve here. He hasn't needed any pain meds since early Tuesday morning. His personality is beginning to shine again, which is always encouraging. He selectively waves good-bye to some of his nurses and doctors, which just makes their day. He is getting feisty when we (or the nurses or techs) have to do things he doesn't like. This evening he was playing with the lumens from his central line, kind of flipping one of them from side to side like a little rope. He even smiled for the camera!

This morning James had to be NPO (nothing by mouth), including breastfeeding, from about 7 a.m. until 11:30, when he was scheduled for a HIDA scan. This scan checks for gallbladder function using some incredible 3-D imaging technology. The initial scan took about 45 minutes, then we had to go back downstairs for one more picture around 3:30 p.m. The preliminary results say that his gallbladder is functioning as it should. It was certainly less stressful on all of us to have Katie here to help with James during the time he couldn't nurse.

Even earlier this morning, James had another x-ray to see if he still has air in his belly. We had hoped this would show that things have emptied enough so the tube could be removed. We haven't actually heard back the results of the x-ray, but James still has his tube. I will be asking some more questions about that tomorrow during rounds. The hard part is that the surgeons (the responsible folks I need to ask these questions of), come very early in the morning for their rounds.

We missed the physical therapist today (she came twice--both times we were downstairs for James' scans). She is supposed to come by again tomorrow and I think James will be ready for some activity.

During James' scan, Katie and I checked out the gift shop, the eating area, the chapel, the little aquarium and the cafeteria. We decided that the cafeteria has much better food selections than the hospital room menu. Why is it that the sick people have to eat the worst food? At the gift shop, we picked up a little box of Tide so we could do laundry and now we have clean clothes.

I hope to hae some idea tomorrow of what milestones we need to reach in order to take James home.

With James feeling better, it's a little easier to get some good photos to post, so without further ado..



James snuggled with Katie during some of the easier time of waiting for his scan while watching whales on the TV.
After catching up with nursing, James has a nice smile for the camera.

From the home folks--Vern has a list running and is adding to and crossing off, feeling like he is getting a handle on things there.

Thanks for checking up on us.

Love, Stephanie