Sunday, July 5, 2009

M53-19

It was kind of hard moving floors at first. Once you get used to your surroundings, change seems kind of scary. However, we saw several nurses that we knew and that remembered us from January. That was very comforting :). One nurse commented on how "buff" Alex looked as compared to the last time we were here since he was so thin last time (about 35 lbs lighter). I think I saw him blush a little ;).

It did take two of our H70 nurses to navigate his bed plus me running behind with his IV pole to get him moved. There is lots of construction going on, so we had to take a route that was a little off the beaten path to get to our new building and floor. Alex was very patient with the three of us as we tried to navigate into tiny elevators and across carpeted areas. Our M53 room is semi-private, but our roommate is a very nice younger guy (looks to be a little younger than Alex) who is awaiting surgery for his Chron's disease. Although the room is a little more cramped overall, Alex has much more room to navigate around his bed to get to both the bathroom and the door.

Alex is feeling much better. He is very tired, but is getting up and down for walks with much more ease than previously. They are reducing the number of calories in his TPN tonight to begin to ween him off of it. His potassium has been low for the last two nights (coupled with low magnesium the night before last), but they say that's not uncommon and are managing it through additional IV infusions as necessary. I think the episode this morning and the back step in diet has discouraged him a little bit, even though he continues to be doing exceptionally well in all other areas. His heart rate was better...down to 114 after the move, which is the lowest it's been since before the surgery. Please send encouraging thoughts his way. He continues to be healing so well and doing a great job of working to get better with walks, rest, and breathing exercises. We just want to make sure he continues to focus on those things rather than the tiny "bumps in the road" so he keeps his spirits and motivation up as much as possible. Also, please pray for a safe flight for Carol as she goes back to KC this evening.

We hope you are all having a blessed Sunday...again, I promise we'll post some pictures as soon as Alex feels up to it :).

1 comment:

bana said...

Alex - Keep up the good work! Gena - you too and thanks for all the information. I got to fill your folks in on Alex's move yesterday morning at church because they left for early church before your message was posted. We are thinking about you all and praying that Alex's healing continues without any more bumps in the road. Love to you both - Aunt Bana and Wilson