The Day After

Michael had a really good day today! I arrived at the hospital shortly after 7 o'clock this morning because I wanted to be there when Dr. P came by on his rounds. Michael was awake, and he was in really good spirits. He was allowed a liquid diet at breakfast, but by lunch he had graduated to a solid food diet. He doesn't care for the hospital food, but he's not sensitive to its smell or taste either. That's a good thing. The last few weeks everything had smelled funny and tasted funny to him. Getting him to eat lately had been a challenge.

Anyway, when Dr. P came by, he was very pleased with Michael's progress. He told him he could go home today, or tomorrow morning. It was basically up to Michael. After discussing it together, we agreed that he should stay one more night. They never did find a room for him upstairs, so he is spending his second night in the pre/post surgery unit (the PTU). There's not much room in there for visitors, but his mom and I worked it out.

Several times today he got up and walked the floor. He only needed a couple doses of pain medication throughout the day. When his surgeon stopped by this evening, he recommended that Michael switch over to Extra-Strength Tylenol starting tomorrow. Amazingly enough, he is no longer coughing or experiencing the post-nasal drip that has plagued him since last fall. That nasty tumor seems to have been the source of all that. I am so happy for him to be free of those maladies. And, he has put on 10 pounds of water weight since he checked-in to the hospital. He looks so much better. I hope he will be able to gain another 15 pounds by the end of next month.

We were blessed to have a fantastic caretaker today named Ofelia. She was so helpful and cheerful. A former patient of hers had sent her a lovely bouquet of flowers, and we could understand why. She is just an angel of mercy. We also saw a young internist today who expressed concern about Michael's calcium levels. He asked us to see our GP next week to follow up on that.

Late in the day we were visited by two of Michael's brothers, his dear auntie, and a cousin. Michael has such a wonderful family. He knows he is well-loved.

I spent a total of 13 hours at the hospital today and I'm beat. I just wolfed down a slice of pizza from Whole Foods, and I'm sipping a nice glass of chilled wine. Just trying to wind down before I head off to bed.

Thanks again for all your support. Each and every comment, email, and phone call is like a little more wind in our sails. I pray that the Lord will bless you for blessing us as you have.

Good night!