Leaps and Bounds for Jodie!

[Guest guest]

Hey all!

I am so busy with school (i.e. work) that I don't get to email very often. But,

Jodie has continued making great progress! She went outside on Monday September

27th for the first time since being hospitalized on June 1st. She also moved to

full liquids shortly after moving to her regular hospital room. AND!! she

started eating normal solid foods on Monday, too!!! I never thought I'd see the

day she was eating solid food again!!! I knew it would come, it just seemed

like it never would. She is tolerating the food pretty well. She still has a

lot of nausea, some days more than others, and vomits almost every day. But,

overall, she tolerates her food and medicines pretty well. She was taken for a

CT scan and an ultrasound to see if she has any gall stones remaining in her

gall bladder. It was confirmed that she has none. She will be having her

biliary drainage tube removed today.

And, the biggest and best news of all, she is preparing to be transferred to a

rehabilitation medical facility within the next week or two!! The only thing

keeping her from transferring immediately is her PCA fentanyl drip. So, ever

since she found out she could be transferred, they have been weaning her off her

fentanyl. They told her that would take two weeks. We're through the first

week of weaning already, so one more week to go.

Yesterday, October 1st, marked 4 months that she's been in the hospital. During

her ultrasound of her gall bladder she started to cry. She had surgery (her

5th) on September 20th to remove fluid from an abcess in her abdomen. She said

the tech was pressing so hard near her most recent incision that it really hurt.

She was also upset though, because of what the date meant. But, her surgeon was

there and told her not to be upset because she was getting better.

Her surgeon, though quite respected by the other staff, doesn't have the best

bedside manner. He isn't very personable. He's not rude. Just pretty stiff.

He doesn't talk much to Jodie when he sees her. He sees her just once a day,

and usually it's just a 30 to 45 second conversation asking her if she has

vomited, had a bowel movement, and/or felt nauseous. Jodie has been more

" adventurous " in her dealings with him lately, asking if she could go outside

and when she could switch to solid foods. Both of these inquiries resulted in

next-day changes.

She spends most of her days sitting in her chair. She walks up and down the

halls for physical therapy. She still uses a walker to walk, even from the bed

to the bathroom. However, she sometimes walks down the hall, just holding onto

the rail. I'll try to write again when she moves to the rehab place. We don't

know how long she will be there. But, I'm hoping for maybe just 3 weeks. I

would love for her to be out of the hospital for Halloween. It is her favorite

holiday!

Also, her least favorite season, summer, she gladly told me, she missed

entirely, having been in the hospital every day. So, though the illness and

hospitalization have been agonizing and endless, at least they coincided nicely

with Jodie's least favorite season. If you have to miss one due to illness and

hospitalization, it's nice to miss the one you hate the most. It's easier now

to see the bright side of things. Especially, since the brightest thing of all

is that she is making it through this and she WILL be home SOON!!!

Thanks to everyone for their kind words and support. I hope this email finds

you well.

peace, melissa

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