Thursday, September 13, 2007

A Rough Day (Warning: May Be Too Sappy For Some)

School started for the girls last Wednesday (9/5) and I had the rest of the week with Everett at home. He started this last Monday (9/10). It was a hard day for me. I brought him into the classroom and he found his spot right away and sat down and started coloring his page. He barely looked at me. I took some pictures then felt a little awkward because I was the only mom that actually came into the room! I gave him a hug and he kissed me, but after that he wiped his mouth off! I left the room and walked the green mile out of the school. As I was walking back to the van it felt strange to not be holding a little hand, or looking behind to make sure the little duck is following behind mama duck. I was a little teary.

I drove home quietly thinking to myself about how I've waited so long for this day. Thirteen years I have had at least one child home with me! As I rounded the corner into our neighborhood the waterworks began. I cried and cried. It was bittersweet. I went to Lonna's, an older neighbor friend who raised three boys. She opened the door and all I could say was that I just dropped Everett off at school. And left him there. She held me and we cried together, then she got me a cup of coffee and we sat on her porch swing looking at the lake, watching the birds, and chatting about this and that. It was good therapy.

After school I thought Everett would be tired and worn out since it's all-day kindergarten, but I thought wrong. He was a bundle of energy, talking excitedly about his day.

So I thought I'd share my rough day with you all. It's good therapy too. I'm starting a new chapter where I'm working 10-2 while they are all in school and I'm back in time to pick them up. I'm thankful for a flexible schedule. And I'm thankful for all those years I was able to be home with my children. So far, I've been able to keep up on housework as well!

Friday, August 24, 2007

Back to School? Wha...!?!?

I received a back-to-school email from our principal today. I am still in denial that our summer is soon coming to a close. Hard to believe that in other parts of the country kids have already started school.

Yumi has gone without incident since our homecoming on July 30. We are so thankful to the Lord for every healthy day! She is making up for all the lost time by spending lots of time with TJ and the donkeys, Slick and Samantha. I have to say that I never thought donkeys could be so cute, but really, it is in their personality. It is so sweet to see Yumi sitting down on the ground and the two donkeys with their heads so close to her and just staying still! It's like they just want to breathe her in and be close to her and get some "loves". Yumi has been getting her fair share of exercise as she chases them around with a chair. This is the only way Slick will run. He's not afraid of the ball like Samantha is!

It's fun to start planning the year with our youngest, Everett now going off to Kindergarten. I am yet undecided on my work schedule. I have really enjoyed the time off! I'm even having a garage sale this weekend! The kids will operate the snack and pop table as I run around at the last minute trying to price things, since I have procrastinated that task! I am so anxious about tomorrow that I can't even sleep. I have a million things running through my head of what I have to do in the morning, the least of which is exercising at 7 am, and I can't even close my eyes. Which explains this late-night post. And my rambling on. And my posting comments to other blogs of family members...

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Vacation Update

Greetings from Boise! We are having a blast here and not looking forward to the long ride home tomorrow. We spent all of yesterday and part of today at Roaring Springs. It was a fun day with a high of 99 degrees! The water felt great.

Before we went to the water park we went over to Cabellas. We really like that store and are looking forward to having one in Lacey. It really will draw a lot of people to town, though.

We plan to go home the same way we came so that we can stop by the Darigold and take a cheese factory tour. We have been to the Tillamook one only once and it will be fun to see how the Darigold compares. I'll be sad to see this vacation end. It seems like summer just started...

Sunday, August 12, 2007

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N . . . Finally!

Just a quick post for any who might still be following this blog. We are finally venturing out on a short vacation. We are leaving this morning for Boise, ID. There is a great water park that we have gone to for the last couple of years. We like to go where it's hot and enjoy the sun! We will be back Wednesday night. Only staying 3 nights in the Holiday Inn Express there. Other than that, we'll be traveling! It's about a 10-hour drive. We're stopping in Yakima to pick up Everett first, though, as my folks took him camping this weekend. I bet he'll be tired!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Greetings From Home!

I have been unpacking for awhile now. It's amazing how much you accumulate in 3 1/2 weeks! I am relieved to be home and am looking forward to making some plans to enjoy what's left of our summer. Yumi is currently down at Mrs. D's house playing with TJ and getting to know him.

Like I said, tomorrow I shall be getting a massage! I can't wait! My body is aching and it's tight muscles galore.

It's a little wierd typing on this keyboard on my PC after typing on the laptop for so long. I'm glad the PDA nightmare came to a swift ending. You all can start calling us at home now, and until next time, Ta-Ta!

If you'd like to be on my emergency hospital notification email, just send me one and I'll add you to my addressbook under a "hospital notification" group. To avoid spam, I will give you my email in code. It is my last name, first initial and c for cat. This is all at the internet provider comcast. And it's not a .COMpany, but a .NETwork. Get it?

GOOD MORNING OLYMPIA!!!

WE are going home today! We ARE going home today! We are GOING home today! We are going HOME today! We are going home TODAY!

So guess what, guys? WE ARE GOING HOME TODAY!

Of course, on the condition that Yumi drinks 2 Liters of fluids a day. This is a healthy amount for anyone, really. We went over and above that yesterday.

This will be the actual first time we are discharged on a sunny day. Amazing! So Yumi has horse plans today and I have a massage appt tomorrow. I wonder if I can get in with the chiroprator today... The only thing is I'm not looking forward to packing up this room. I mean, we've camped out here for 25 days! We have a lot of stuff.

So, congratulations, Kerri! You are our WHEEL winner! You got that pretty fast.

After around 2 or 3 today you should be able to reach me at home! Thanks for all your support, everyone!

Monday, July 30, 2007

WHEEL Update

You guys are so funny! You all wanted the same letter! Since you all chose the same letter we don't get very far. I'll put the puzzle on the side of the webpage.

Thanks for playing! Keep guessing; and yes, you can guess more than once a day.

By the way, my blog got SPAMMED! I can hardly believe it. It was a link to a survey website. I am so horribly disappointed.

We went to U. Village and had a great time. It's really hard not to spend a lot of money. Yumi gets pretty uncomfortable after every meal she eats. She did really well drinking. She also had a milkshake from Ben & Jerry's and being the supportive mother that I am, I had to have one with her. Sometimes the sacrifices moms make...
(*burp*)

Some Good News

We slept in quite a bit this morning. The doctors did rounds around 8 am and were concerned that Yumi didn't eat and drink enough yesterday. They want her drinking 2 liters a day. She is now off the TPN and is solely depending on her mouth and willpower to sustain life. Another problem is that everything she ate and drank was not reported. This is what the docs said anyway. But the good news is that we are allowed out on a pass today. Not long enough to come home, of course, but long enough to go to the park and U. Village. Yumi is talking about going to the mall. I don't think I want to face traffic. I think once she sees U. Village, she will like it there. Can't buy anything cause it's horribly expensive, but we can look and probably make a purchase at the Bartell Drugs! :)

Last night I started on A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers, part one of a trilogy. I was leery at first because of the Roman historical 100 AD setting, but I was hooked before I finished the first chapter. (As with all Francine Rivers)

I was trying to think of a title for this post, but what I could come up with was pretty long, but it deserves a mention here.

Wheel of Fortune - The Category is: Before and After

_ _ _
_ _
_
_ _ _ _
_ _ _


Had to reformat the words so it doesn't run all together. Sorry about that.


Who wants to play?

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Just Passing Time . . . And Gas

I was hoping to have good news for you all today of our homecoming, but alas, we have to keep waiting! The doctor came in this morning and asked Yumi what she ate yesterday. Turned out it wasn't enough to go home on. They are going to lower the IV nutrition to about half today and she has to try to eat enough calories. The doctor said "late Monday or more likely, late Tuesday you can go home." So we are going to keep track today of what Yumi eats and drinks. She was to wait at least 1/2 hour if she is having pain to ask for the narcotics. It probably is just gas pain trying to make its way through her body. She said to try to let the pain just pass on its own or she can take simethicone. They would also like to see her have a BM before we go home.

So, although this is not what we were hoping for, I am glad that the Team is being cautious. I'd hate to end up back here before the weekend if we had gone home.

Today I'm going to have to run to Barnes and Noble to get a new book! I have 2 and 3 of a trilogy but need to go buy the first one if I am to get through the next couple of days. Last week we only had one visitor so the week went very slowly. We need to stay occupied and entertained. I am also, regrettably, addicted to Sudoku. I have a little pocket size book that I keep by my bed and I even TIME MYSELF! That's an addiction right there!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

"Hospital Sweet Hospital"

Hi, People!

I'm back "home" at Children's. Traffic, as usual, was quite annoying, but I managed to make it back. Yumi had been upgraded for a real lunch. She was pretty thrilled. She enjoyed pretzels, cucumbers, chocolate shake, and cherry tomatoes. It sounds like they are not trying the low-fiber/low-residue diet this time. Around dinner time, she called me (I was out with Michelle at dinner) and had been having some pain. They gave her an oral Dilautid and she took a nap and felt better afterwards. She has been passing gas all day, though, so that's good. Perhaps this pain was just gas pain.

On my way back to Seattle, I stopped by Mrs. D's barn to see Yumi's horse, TJ. I even got to pet him on Yumi's behalf! He really was a sweet guy. The donkeys were a blast to see as well! Yumi is so excited to get out of here so she can go home and get to know and play with TJ.

I will update tomorrow morning when I know anything; hopefully they will give us a hint of when we can be discharged.

Friday, July 27, 2007

Mom's Home (for a night)

Hi, all! I am currently typing on my home PC! I left today around 2:15 and it took me 2 1/2 hours to get home! The worst thing about it was that I had drank a Veinte (20 oz) Iced Tea before I left the hospital...

I called Yumi tonight and Michelle arrived without a problem. Yumi was watching a movie, but they still had not reversed the NPO order (nothing to eat or drink). So she may not be getting clears until tomorrow. Bummer. She did spend some money at the gift shop on Tootsie Pops and Extra Chewing Gum! She likes the Tootsie Pops but is not allowed to eat the center. She seems so much better without the NG tube, as that was just really bothering her throat and nose. She even has her strong voice back, which I appreciate; I have a hard time dealing with the whiny quiet whispery voice.

I hope to be back up there around 5pm tomorrow after the seminar I'm taking at church. It's weird to be home. The water from the tap now has a taste to me that I had apparently gotten used to! I am, however looking forward to sleeping my my own bed! No Tylenol PM for me tonight!

Oh, Jodi, I forgot to mention it. Guess what I had for dinner tonight? Tacos! Your tacos! They were so-o good. I could hardly stand it. So much better than hospital food, even as leftovers! And KUDOs to you; my hubby doesn't usually eat leftovers, but he was having tacos tonight too. We are both amazed at the amount of taco stuff you prepared. That could feed our family for a whole week!

Hopefully, we can come home before Monday.

A Three-Week Celebration!

Oh, happy day! Yumi took out her NG Tube this morning! She is allowed to start chewing some gum and sucking on hard candies. Maybe some clear liquids tonight. Her peripheral IV went bad last night so they were trying to poke her at like 4 in the morning! I had taken a 1/2 dose Tylenol PM last night and although I heard everything going on I could not open my eyes long enough or get out of bed! I'm feeling pretty rested up now. Yumi's voice changes dramatically when her tube is out. Hopefully her throat will start feeling better.

Of course they want to take this nice and slow. Starting with clears and moving up from there on a daily basis. If all goes well, perhaps Sunday will be our homecoming.

I have a seminar at church tonight and tomorrow. If things go as planned I will be going to that. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed; today marks our 3 weeks here and I've slept on this bed that long. I'm also looking forward to getting back to my workout routine. (Ooops, did Michelle hear me say that?) I've been trying to get in some crunches to keep my middle firm, that's the abdominal type, not the chocolate type! If for no other reason but to keep my back from hurting like it has being here!

Yumi had a volunteer come yesterday. She sang a folk song about a race horse that drank wine! Then they went for a walk to the cafeteria. She was really nice. I'm always interested to know why they chose to volunteer here. They have an awesome volunteer program. I hope that when Yumi turns 16 she will want to volunteer at St. Peters Hospital or something. That's what being a follower of Christ is, being others-focused and not self-focused.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

A Few Things

I posted pictures of my accomodations for those of you who asked about it. It's my comfy sofa and bed. Actually, not too comfy sofa. It really hurts my back to sit on it all day. Some days I keep it as a bed and prop pillows up and sit, or lie down and read.

Also, I wanted to mention my poll. I added this for a couple of reasons. One, just to make this blog a little more interactive; and two, I really am curious about what cell services people are using and why aren't they using Verizon? I am on Verizon, and just this fact alone should prompt you guys to switch, because then you can call me on my cell and it will cost NOTHING! Anyways, I actually feel kind of silly voting on people's polls, too, but do it for Yumi! She's interested! She even voted! (She has a Pay as You Go)

I took a walk today down to BurgerMaster and had a salad. I was surprised it only took me about 17 minutes to get there! I also got a few things at the Safeway. I was gone just over an hour. It felt good to move around. Last night as I was getting ready for bed (on my comfy bed) I realized I had not even left our room yesterday, with the exception of going to the fridge in the Nourishment room across the hall! How lazy is that? I was actually quite busy reading another book. Maybe I should start a list of all the books I've read since we've been here. This is actually my 5th novel! And they are not short books. They are all about 300-400 pages long! Yumi has also done her fair share of reading as well. Yes, I will add the list. I'll have to get Yumi's down after she wakes from her nap.

Gravity - It's a Good Thing!

Well, today we are going to gravity! This means that Yumi's NG Tube will not be on suction. This is a way that makes the tube act as an overflow valve if her stomach gets too full of bial and is not going through her intestines. Sometimes she would get nauteous if there's too much bial and she needs to go back to suction. The docs ordered a "belly film" this morning.

A couple nights ago I went back and read all my blog entries. They are laborious reading and seemed kind of boring. So, thank you all for putting up with all those technical details of vomiting, bial, PCAs, TCAs, and PICC Lines! I've wanted to write more than just "Yumi is not fine today" or "Yumi is fine today". We love getting the comments and jokes and well wishes, though!

So we are making progress. Slowly, but surely.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

On Second Thought . . .

The closer we get to Friday, the more I'm thinking that won't be our homecoming day. Sorry to disappoint all our fans out there. :) Although Yumi's pain is substantially less, her NG output is still up there and quite dark. It had gotten pretty light today, but now it's been pretty dark for awhile. She isn't needing to hit her PCA button as often, but occasionally will have some pain. She's happily watching a movie as I type. Yumi did pass some gas today, to which her nurse gave her a high-five! We are still waiting for more bowel tones and for the NG output to go down.

In the far and distant past, I remember 3 weeks was my limit of living at the hospital. I'm wondering how I'll do past Friday. I'm hoping I will retain my sanity! I might have to go to U. Village and do some therapeutic shopping. If Yumi's not out but healthy enough for a pass, I might take her for a little outing. I plan on booking a long massage and a chiropractic appt. when I do get home.

Boy, am I ever so thankful for this private room! We have screaming toddlers on both sides of us, I can even hear banging on the wall occasionally. I would not want to know what's going on over there!

I do have to say how impressed I was when I was home on Tuesday, how well-kept the house looks. I always said David was a better housekeeper than I am!

Thanks for checking up on us. We'll keep you posted.

Wednesday

Yumi is having only a little pain today, and I've never seen her sleep so comfortably. I'll post that pic in a minute. I didn't get back to our room until about 12:20 after my visit to Olympia so I was pretty tired. I went ahead and took a Tylenol PM to help me sleep through the night and boy, I feel so much better now. When I got back here last night, Yumi was all wide awake and wanting to go walk around. So we walked around a little bit and I was in bed about 1 am.

Yumi does have a lot more spunk today. We are still waiting for bowel tones and passing gas. The doctor did say he heard some faint bowel tones this morning on rounds.

Thank you, everyone, for all your prayers. We are so blessed.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The Great Morphine Experiment

Okay, well the morphine experiment didn't go so well. Yumi wasn't nauteous at all by it but it just didn't cut the pain like the dilautid so in the middle of the night we switched back to the dilautid with the PCA. I'll ask the docs about it on rounds this morning. Apparently as far as the Pain Team goes, if the patient is 12 and over, the Surgical Team likes to deal with the pain themselves.

Yumi is sleeping away. I woke up early this morning and I'm not sure why. I didn't get any better sleep than previous nights, but there is something different. The sun is shining! Last night I didn't draw the dark dark shade before I went to sleep and only the shady shade was drawn so maybe it's the light in the room that had me up and at 'em this morning.

We had a nice visit with David and the kids last night. I sure miss them.

Monday, July 23, 2007

And We're Waiting . . .

No bowel tones yet. She is still having quite a bit of output from her NG tube, which is completely normal. We are just waiting for her stomach and bowels to wake back up from the trauma of surgery. We decided to try the morphine, and the doctor wrote it for every two hours. We really want to get rid of this peripheral IV and just use the PICC line. They wanted to give the PICC time overnight to see if it is indeed flowing better than before before they pull the peripheral. At Children's they have Teams. Like the Surgical Team, Pain Team, IV Team. I couldn't imagine being a nurse on the IV Team, dealing with kids all day that are not especially pleased to see me. Talk about patient people, or gluttons for punishment!

So the next few days we spend waiting for bowel tones and passing some gas. These are signs that things are starting to wake up. Then we will be able to take out the NG Tube as well. Yumi has some redness around her incision that the docs are watching.

Hey, here's a shout out to Princess! Thanks for reading our blog! You are one special nurse!

Day Two Post-Op

Yumi's PICC line is getting a little sluggish and there was concern that they might have to pull it and put in a new one. They put in some stuff called TCA (I think) that will break down any clotting or plugging up of the TPN (nutrition). If they have to pull it they will put in a double line so that she doesn't have to have the second IV for the Dilautid. If they don't have to replace the PICC we will try the Morphine instead of dilautid, which is compatible with the TPN. This all probably sounds either confusing or boring, so I will move on...

We watched High School Musical last night. I thought it was a cute movie! Now we are waiting for High School Musical 2 to come out on the 17th. Except that we don't have Disney Channel, so we are going to have to have a slumber party at Mikaela's! Yumi doesn't think I should come too, but we'll see. It's her own fault for making me watch the first one.

Mikaela and her mom came today so I will post that picture. Note that all the pictures I post are taken on my camera phone so they are not super clear. Sorry.

I have cancelled all my clients for the next couple of months. I will go back to work after school starts. This will hopefully give Yumi some time to get better and give us what'll be left of the summer to enjoy. It's been incredibly stressful having to cancel clients the week of each and every week that we are here. Taking some time off will alleviate some of that stress. It'll be easier to transition to a daytime work schedule if I do it this way as well.

Hopefully we can be home by the end of the week.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Drugged Out and Sleeping Away...

You guys with the jokes are so funny! hahaha!

Tonight Yumi had to get a peripheral IV put in because the Dilautid is not compatible with TPN and they are wanting to get her back on TPN. So after 2 tries from the IV team, she has a peripheral! We gave her some benadryl so she wouldn't be too anxious, but it didn't take effect until long after it was in! She's slept for quite a while now.

Yumi has a friend, Mrs. D, that she does horses with. Yumi goes to her barn 2-3 times a week to exercise the donkeys and help out and ride horses. It is her dream come true! Anyways, the horse that she's been riding is really strong and quite large. Too big for Yumi. So Mrs. D, while Yumi's been in the hospital decided to get her a horse just her size! This is TJ and he came home Saturday. That's why Yumi wants to get better and get home quick! She is so excited and blessed for this awesome opportunity, which is another way that the Lord is confirming His plan for us to stay in the area and not move. The other confirmation is Yumi's medical problems, er... I mean, adventures.

Road to Recovery

It's the Lord's Day! We just got done listening to Pastor Keith's online sermon from July 8. We are both encouraged in the Lord. Yumi's gotten to see the horse pictures and of course she wants more! She can't wait to get home to meet her new horse, TJ.

Yumi got her Foley taken out this morning and has gotten up to use the restroom. She sat up for awhile on the rocking chair and finally got back into bed. The docs upped her dose on the Dilautid and were also going to give her IV ibuprofen. She's been kind of sleepy for the last hour. Her breathing and oxygen is doing well, she has the nose prongs instead of a mask. They want her to work on taking off the tape and gauze that is over her scar and steri-strips. We made the goal of starting to work on that around lunchtime.

Praise God that He answered our prayer about staying in our room! I actually had a full night's sleep. I am still tired, but I don't remember waking every hour or so like I usually do. I even had a dream! Was a stress dream, but a dream nonetheless!

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Evening News with Mom

Now that Yumi has settled in and rested up some, she is having some pain so we are going to talk to the pain team. If they can't find something else we may try the epidural again. I don't know if Yumi will agree to it since she's awake. She really doesn't want to move at all. We've been having some trouble keeping the oxygen mask on so the nurse just put the pronged thing on her to give her oxygen as without it, her sats get too low.

Yumi's been steadily watching tv this evening. She likes the Disney channel and can watch that thing 24/7. She especially likes Hannah Montana. I'm not sure why, I can't even stand to watch one episode. David says it's on on Saturdays and he doesn't let Yumi watch it all the time because the girl has such a bad attitude! I should have her change it to the travel channel. She likes to watch all the hotdog shops and candy factories. These are all channels we don't get at home, so I think she's really taking advantage of the tv here!

The resident came in and said that he can up the dose a little bit. It's hard to tell when she was crying if she was just more irritated about the mask and that was making her cry. When I ask her, though, she says it's both.

Ha Ha. I got her to change the channel! Let's look for the travel channel.

Success!

We are back at our room now and Yumi is doing fine. Surgery was successful, but once again, the surgeon was pretty surprised at what they found. He said "That girl makes some scars!" So the part of the bowel that was reconnected from her surgery 10 years ago had about 4 places around it that had adhesions, plus twists and turns to rival any John Grisham novel. There was a whole section of bowel that was wrapped around it as well. Not to mention the swollen bulb where it was resectioned that flops around and grew adhesions. (This is totally lay-person terms)

We had the option of an epidural, which we took, but that wasn't getting it just right. It went down her leg (just like happened to me when I was giving birth to Yumi!) so they decided to take it out. She has a PCA (drugs on demand) which she loves. I took a picture of her and she wanted to model her PCA for you. I will post that. But as it turns out, we are back in our single, private room! If she had an epidural they would have transferred her to the surgical floor, as the medical floor nurses do not deal with the epidurals. So the Lord knows exactly how to orchestrate these things!

You are probably wondering what time things started. They came to get us in our room about 10:30. She went into surgery about 11:00. The doc came out and told us how it went about 12:30. We waited and waited for her to recover until about 3pm. Then they finally let us be with her for the last part of recovery. They had been trying to work with the epidural for quite some time, wiggling it around perhaps, before they decided it just was not going to work. We got to our room about 3:30. We settled in and Yumi is now asleep. Matt, her other fave nurse came to see her. David went out in search of some dinner. We haven't eaten since breakfast about 9:30am.

I'm sure you are all wondering how this will look in the future. Is she going to be fixed from now on? The fact of the matter is that we really don't know. Only time will tell. I find it discouraging that there were all these bands of adhesions around the resection that Dr. Kim looked at in April and said looked great. So these grew only in the last couple months. So, all told, this was an unavoidable surgery and she was not going to get better on her own. Praise the Lord for competent and skillfull doctors. We are in the best Hospital for many states. Praise God!

Meals: a few basic rules. (kind of picky family)
No casseroles, cream-based anything, mayo-based anything.
Likes: pizza, fried chicken, tacos, soup, breads, spaghetti, hamburgers, teriyaki, stuff along those lines. Most vegetables are fine, too.

I'm sorry if this list sounds greedy, but I was asked to put out a list for the people signed up to bring meals. We sure do appreciate it! We are humbled by your generosity and continue to covet your prayers. We should be here about another 7 days.

Yumi's Finally Snoozing Away...

The restful night we were hoping for never came. We awoke this morning at 5:50 to poor Yumi vomiting all over the floor. It's amazing how much she is still vomiting even with the NG tube. She was vomiting late last night as well, and I was very concerned because there were some peas from Thursday's dinner in there. I don't think that's a very good sign at all. I think that what probably has been a partial obstruction has moved on to being a full obstruction now.

The NG tube went down fine last night. Princess is a pro at putting them in! This time the tube was not as big as the previous so I think it was easier on Yumi. Poor thing! She is sleeping away right now. ZZZZZZ... I think things will be getting under way within the hour now.

Please pray that we won't have to move to a new room. Having this private room on the Medical Unit has been a real blessing. Usually they will move a patient to the Surgical Unit once they have surgery if they are not already there. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but when we were admitted there were no rooms on the Surgical Unit, so that is why we are on the Medical Floor.

Kerri tells me that childcare is covered through Wednesday. Thank you guys! I'll let you know how Yumi's doing after surgery.

Friday, July 20, 2007

The Final Countdown

The resident came in just now and informed us that we are indeed on the schedule for first thing in the morning, which on weekends means about 8 or 9. We signed the consent and are pretty ready to go. We'll hopefully get a good night's sleep and be ready for the day tomorrow. Poor Yumi is a little upset about having to have the operation. Right now she's watching Hillary Duff in Cinderella Story and squeezing her stress ball that David bought for her today at the Bartell Drugs.

We had gone to BurgerMaster today for lunch and we were both still full around dinner time so we didn't eat anything. I had a Caribou Coffee Bar and I think I'm good. So pray for a quick recovery for Yumi tomorrow and most importantly, steady hands and wisdom for the surgeons.

I mentioned it in a comment I posted, but we have Monday covered for childcare and need the rest of the week covered. And if you'd like to visit, it is very welcomed as she is more motivated to get up and out of bed and moving around just like the doctors want. Call and let us know when you'd like to visit and I'll tell you how that day looks. I imagine we will be here until at least Wed or Thurs. We do appreciate the meals as well. Thank you everyone!

This Is It!

Well, the day has finally come. Yumi has just been ordered NPO, no food or drink to prepare for surgery. Princess, our nurse, is getting ready to insert an NG tube. This time they are giving Yumi Adavan, a sedative, to help with the procedure. Please pray that is goes well. Of course, by the time you read this post it will already have been done.

So we should be having surgery within the next 24 hours, possibly 12. I will be very interested in what they will find. Yumi hasn't eaten all day and also has been vomiting. Her pain has been fairly consistent, as well.

As far as childcare and meals goes, David should probably be home with the kids by Saturday night. We would need childcare starting up again on Monday. Thank you to all who have pitched in! I hope that Danielle and Everett (Bubbs and Bort) have been a blessing to you all! Meanwhile, David is up here with me until probably tomorrow. I had planned on working tomorrow, but am scrapping that plan in leiu of what's going on.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Going on Two Weeks

Yumi had another painful episode tonight about an hour after she ate. It got so bad that the Tylenol did not help and she was crying out for Dilautid. It just breaks my heart to see her hurting so badly and there's nothing I can do. We called the resident up to talk to him and he felt pretty bad for Yumi as well. He felt bad that he was not qualified to determine that she needs surgery and we have to leave that up to the Attending. Unfortunately, we won't see the Attending until maybe tomorrow morning, but even the attending doesn't usually do rounds. It is usually the Fellow. So David will be here in the morning to talk to the Fellow and see if we can come up with some sort of plan. This diet does not seem to be working. She did, however, have a BM. That's good news.

Keep praying for our girl. Tomorrow marks our two-week mark of being here...

Calorie Countdown

So after lunch today Yumi started having pain again. It didn't escalate to needing IV meds but we asked for some Tylenol. The docs said to try to manage the pain with that first. I think she's doing a little better. It still sounds like things are moving a little slowly. She needs to pace herself and not eat very much at all at a sitting. The problem is, will she get enough calories?

Greetings, from Children's Hospital . . . still!

Hello everyone! My, I'm up early! I guess that's what happens when you go to sleep before midnight!

Yes, we are still up at Children's. Yumi was trying hard to eat enough yesterday to be able to go home but then about 5:30 she started having some pain in her belly again. She had been also drinking a lot, per the docs recommendation. After the dilautid, she got pretty nautious and got some zofran. It took quite awhile to get over the nausea, but she finally started to feel better and was eating crackers and drinking water again. No pain this morning, so the docs say to eat smaller, more frequent meals. Don't overdo it, they say. They said maybe we can go home tommorrow... They did order an xray this morning, though.

Basically, they are thinking that she still has a narrow passage in her small bowel, so it's like the shower drain. If you keep running a lot of water, it will get backed up, but if you take shorter showers and give it time to drain in between, you should still be able to have showers on a regular basis.

Another thing, they are putting her on a low fiber/low residue diet. This is so strange. It consists of white bread, highly refined wheat & flour products. Well-cooked or canned vegetables. No whole grain, beans, or nuts. The idea is that these foods take longer to digest and go through the bowels slower and also produce less and softer poop. She is to stay on this diet for about a month.

I am torn between wanting to get home (I have a major Bible study project due on Tuesday) and staying here. I am so afraid that a day or two after we get home she will just have another obstruction and we'd have to come back up here. And getting admitted through the ER is no walk at the park.

So I apologize for not posting yesterday. My pda has failed me and obviously the laptop still doesn't connect. I was hoping that we'd get to go home yesterday and that I'd just post from home. My plan is to go home tomorrow night and work on Saturday; hopefully Yumi will be home by then. If not, I'll have David come up here Friday night and Dani and Everett will go to Michelle's for the night. I am struggling with what to do about work. I can't keep canceling and moving all my clients, or else when I do get back I will have no clients left! I know Sarah (my boss) is concerned about Yumi, but she still has a business to run and it's stressful when I'm not there and they are having to pick up my slack. I guess they've been so busy the last couple Saturdays that they have turned away a lot of clients!

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. The Lord is totally in control and He has a purpose in all of this. Praise God for all the family and friends that have stepped up to help with childcare and meals.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

If All Goes Well...

We should be getting out tomorrow! That's Wednesday, for those of you who are not checking daily! Hehehe.
Yumi had a bagel today for lunch and is doing well. Thank you for all your prayers and comments and well wishes! I was hoping to upload a pic to the blog, so I gotta go figure it out.

Monday, July 16, 2007

The Waiting Continues . . .

Holding off on food, back to clear liquids. So far the docs have not ordered the NG tube put back in. They ordered another xray, but they haven't come to get us yet. So we are sill waiting. No more vomiting or pain since last night, so that's good!

Sunday, July 15, 2007

A Possible Setback

I got back to the Hospital from home. It took me two whole hours! From MChord to Fife, it took me about 40 minutes! But now I'm back at our temporary home and...

As I walked towards our room our Nurse, Princess (yes, that's her real name!) told me that just before she was able to partake of some Goldfish Crackers, she started to have pain, about a level 7 pain. So she's back on Dilautid. After the Dilautid she was about a 3. When I got to the room she looked pretty pale and I kissed her on the forehead and she was clammy. She had just vomited into the garbage pail. This is not good news. The docs said to stop and wait on the liquids. I think they are stalling until they can get up to the unit to examine her. I'm thinking that she'll probably get the NG tube put back in and possibly they will elect to operate. Now I haven't talked to the docs yet, so this is just my thoughts.

BTW, she did have a poop this afternoon. I don't think I posted that, yet. But this doesn't mean stuff is getting through, because remember, she hasn't had a bm since the Friday before last. Of course, I will keep you updated on the latest. Hopefully we will be home in time to enjoy some summer vacation!

Slowly But Surely

Yumi started on the liquids yesterday and got her tube out in the evening! Today she is allowed to continue slowly on the liquids and maybe by tonight she can start having a few things to eat. They want her to take it real slow in case she still has this partial obstruction. Her spirits are a lot better since she had a friend last night and is getting out and walking around getting some exercise. I think we should tie her up on a harness and lunge her like a horse for exercise! hehehe :)

I left the hospital this morning to make it to church. I am typing from home and after lunch will go back up to the hospital. David is making me a steak lunch! yum...

So we are making progress. People keep asking when the docs say she can come home. The criteria is that she is tolerating foods and passing gas and pooping. They never really say, "you should be home by ______". It's always a guess on my part.

I'll let you know how she does with eating and all that.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

The floodgates of a liquid diet!

No progress with Yumi except that they said she can start on liquids! So dinner was delivered tonight and it consisted of beef broth (yum), 2 red jellos and 2 cran-rasp juices. Take it slowly, they said. She still has the NG tube but it is on gravity.
Dr. Kim made an appearance tonight after a week of vacation. He is the one who did Yumi's surgery in April. He said we can start slowly even though it appears she has like a partial kink in her bowel. If she tolerates the liquids then she can be upgraded to solids maybe tomorrow. At this rate, I'm thinking she will probably be released Monday. That's if all goes as planned. With a partial kink, it could be that the stuff gets backed up even if it's going slowly. If this is the case, she would not be able to go home, as they prefer her to be 100% to be able to leave.

During the day, Yumi seems to have tired of Hannah Montana (or at least I have), and Suite Life, and has discovered the comforts of watching the Food Channel. She says sometimes when people are eating on the tv she can actually taste it too! Everyone gets a kick out of that! She needs to be up and walking around so it is good that her friend Faith is coming up tonight.

I will be going out with my buds tonight and taking the scenic route around to Chilis on the Eastside. The 520 is closed all weekend for annual maintenance and we won't be able to go that way. I'm already trying to decide what to eat. Hopefully I won't go wild having 2 dinners out in a row!

Ta-Ta people! I'll update when I know anything.

Part Two: Read the previous post first!

David got here with the kids at around 8:30 and the security at the door told him that visiting hours were over. He told the guy that he had to drop things off to his wife. So they let him come in. I got back from switching over our laundry and there they were! My family! The Fab Fam! He showed me how to set up the sync thing but it wouldn't work. I figured I could play with it later and we went to dinner. It was a late dinner as noone had eaten yet. We went to the Ram at the U. Village. I had a steak dinner. It was scrumptious. I'd been trying to save money by eating yogurt and plain cheerios for breakfast from the nutrition room that's available free to parents. So I was ready for a good meal!

Now I bet you wish I didn't have the luxury of the laptop because now I'm rambling on with the easy and smooth typing action! I am enjoying such fantastic technological capabilities!

On to an update on Yumi, which is the reason this blog exists! The night nurse printed up some results from the CTs and X-rays that Yumi has been subjected to the last 24 hours. Here's what it says:

1. No contrast is seen flowing from the distal ileal loops to the ascending colon even on delayed images done 8 hours after the start of the procedure. This is suggestive of distal small bowel obstruction.

2. Severely dilated mid jejunal loops. Distal ileal loops show milder dilatation when compared to the more proximal small bowel loops. This may reflect multiple levels of obstruction of different degrees.

Yuki speaking: So you do the math. It sounds like to me it is not resolving itself and perhaps the surgical team will show up in the morning saying "let's go to surgery!" My alter ego is saying: "I don't know! Maybe the surgeon will just say 'let's wait through the weekend!'" The problem is that they are not seeing marked improvement, nor a worsening of her condition. So your guess is as good as mine!

You put up with a lot of rambling tonight, so I'll log off now. Have a great night, everyone!

Two-Part Entries: Read First!

David came tonight and saved the day! I had gone out shopping today at the U. Village and I was looking at the Sony Store. They had Bluetooth Keyboards for pdas! But it was $149! I told the salesguy, "I have to call my husband to make sure I can buy this!" I called David and told him about the keyboard and he thought that was a little outrageous and so I said I would check out the Office Depot around the corner. In the meantime, his wheels started to spin in his head...

I went to the Office Depot and of course they only had a keyboard for a Palm! I called David as I was leaving and he said that he has a program that he can sync the pda to the laptop and I can use the laptop to type using the WIFI connection of the pda! No I know some of you are tuing me out right about now, so here's the punchline:

I'M TYPING ON THE LAPTOP!!! I can't believe it! Once again, my fair prince has made all my dreams come true!

Friday, July 13, 2007

No News Is...

No news is good news I suppose! Haven't heard from the surgical team since this morning. The nurse is checking right now on if the findings have been reported yet.

In the meantime I went on a two-hour outing today to the bookstore and walked
around University Village. It was refreshing but short-lived! It seemed to go rather quickly. I got Yumi a few books and one for myself.

I'll update as I know anything!

MOJO Mania

Yumi got to meet Kenji Jojima and Jim Slaton, the bullpen coach. She also got a kiss from the Moose! I wish I could upload my phone pix to my pda!

Anyway, the progress still seems the same. Just waiting for Yumi to get better. Doc is still thinking operation. We did have another x-ray last night @ 10:30 and again this morning @ 7:30. So not much news right now. I will update as things happen. It's like getting news online. I prefer komotv.com.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Last X-ray (for today)

We got through the small bowel follow through. It took all day! Yumi had to be off suction all day and about 6:50, before her final xray, she started to have pain. Not just a little pain, but a level 6 pain. So now she is back on dilautid and back on suction.

The contrast looked like it was finally getting through, but slowly. I'll let you know what the docs say in the morning.

Good night for now. It's been a long day.

All-Day Small Bowel Follow-Through

We went into CT this morning at 10:30, were there for 3 hours while they did the contrast, waited, xrayed, waited, xrayed, waited, and waited some more. Then they let us go to our room for 1 hour then we went back to do more pictures. Now we are back in our room and waiting another hour for more pictures. The contrast has still not made it to her colon. It's moving verrry slooooowly. Slower than they would expect. My thought is that she will indeed end up having surgery and hopefully before the weekend. Her stomach starts to bother her everytime we go down there and she's having to lay flat on her back for the pictures.

She is feeling tons better, though, because she is able to walk to xray. It's nice because it takes so long with a wheelchair. I think having her friends come yesterday helped her spirits. Aunt Mary and Uncle Steve are here right now and I'm having the luxury of typing on Mary's Mac Notebook.

Yumi just gets a kick out of your comments. Keep em coming!

Chopper 7 TRAFFIC REPORT

Here's a post for all you traffic fans out there. At 10:30 they will do the small bowel follow through, where they pump her full of barium. This will give them the birds' eye view of Clarke Stahl in the Chopper 7 telling us exactly where the slowdowns are. Because it seems we are experiencing only one lane on a four-lane highway. She is still havi lots of green stuff coming out the tube, which makes the doc still think she will need an operation. He wants to get things going before the weekend.

So I hope y'all enjoyed a trip back to the traffic analogy. I know, it gets old...

Oh, I feel another one coming on... pda, don't fail me now!

So Yumi's issue of this traffic jam
is not because it's rush hour and there are just too many cars on the road. We're not talking mass transit, either. Nor is it that there was a major accident or pileup collision. It's actually the darn DOT's fault! They have shut down all lanes except one! Those guys are so busy building bridges going nowhere (adhesions) they have neglected all the normal traffic flow! Get it? yuk yuk yuk! =)
I have so much free ttime here, I have no choice but to be clever!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

It works, then it doesn't

Well, as you may well know from my constant complaining about the laptop, I finally got it to work and I was laboriously typing away to update you on what's going on and even gave a lot of background info and what we can expect in the future, and then when I went to post the thing, the connection was too weak to find the server and I lost everything I had typed. AAAAAARRGH!

So now I'm typing in a Word document and hopefully will save it and paste it in later. You just can't imagine my frustration. (Update: couldn't get back on so I'm in another room on the hospital computer transcribing from the laptop onto this computer.)

I haven't heard from the doctors since this morning and she did get the xray, but I hadn't heard what was the result from the xray. So I was asking our day nuse and he went and printed up all the final results for me from all the CTs and xrays from the last few days. Just for kicks I was thinking about typing all that out for you to decipher the medical jargon, but then I was too lazy . . .Eh, why not? I'll put down the findings:

"Contrast persists in the cecum and proximal ascending colon. there has been significant interval increase in the amount of the colonic gas. dilated and gas-filled loops of small bowel persist. These findings are most consistent with incomplete small bowel obstruction." There, now we are all educated!

So basically, a little bit is going through, but not enough to go home on. It is definitely still a problem. They are wanting to see free-flowing traffic. They are still waiting to see if she will resolve this on her own.

What does this look like long-term? Well, the doctors just don't know. Worst case, she could have this for many years to come. Diet? The docs say that "everyone should be eating diets with high fiber. Lots of fruits and veggies. By the time stuff reaches the small bowel, everything is pretty much liquefied anyway. This is not a constipation issue. Purely mechanical." There is no treatment or prevention of scar tissue. Nothing they can do long term. And yes, this is uncommon in children. Something they see more as a geriatric deal.

I hope this answers many of your questions. I've asked these questions many times and in many different versions trying to get a different answer but the answer is always the same. Thanks for checking out the blog before calling. Lots of people say they do that and their questions are answered before they call. I try to update as I know anything so you really are getting the latest. Keep praying for our girl! She's a trooper! She loves having visitors; it gets her out of bed and out of a funk.

Phone Calls

I'm trying to keep my cell phone use down to a minimum. Last time we were in the hospital my bill was $232. So if it is possible to do so, please call the hospital room phone. The number is 206-987-2000 Room G-2008. I am on Verizon, though, so if you call Verizon to Verizon, that is free airtime.

I really appreciate your help in this matter! Living up here gets expensive, but hey, at least I'm not driving all over town wasting gas, eh?

If you do have a question that I don't address on the blog, go ahead and post a comment. That way I can address it to everyone else who may be wondering the same thing. You don't need an accout to leave a comment. Just click the bullet that says "anonymous", but be sure to leave your name at the end of your comment so I know who it's from! Thank you!

Childcare

BTW, Stef, thanks for the offer. I saw Everett last night when they came for a visit and he was a little emotional. He didn't want to go anywhere alone really, and it broke my heart. I think he's doing okay even though it takes some juggling. Between grandparents and my friend Michelle, it looks like we got it covered.

We've seen the pain team before when she had her surgery, but haven't seen them this time around. I guess it's after the fact now, but I'll keep that in mind.

"Operation Let's Keep Waiting"

I went on a great 45 min. walk this morning. Also did some lunges so I feel good today.

The docs came in on rounds and said that he still thinks Yumi is going to need an operation. After he sees this morning's xray he may order an upper GI/Small Bowel Follow Through. He thinks that although she is passing a small amount of gas, the contrast from the CT a couple days ago may still not have reached her colon. So if things are actually getting through, they are going verrrry sloooowly and she may have a partial block. So he wants to give Yumi's body every opportunity to resolve itself without surgical intervention. However, they also will not release her with this slow-moving bowel. This must be resolved one way or another before we will be released. So rest assured, Yumi will be 100% by the time she goes home!

As far as she's feeling, she's not had dilautid since yesterday. So praise the Lord that at least she's no longer in pain. The PICC-line has made a big difference, too. I'm glad we got that done and out of the way.

Best case, we will be here another 2 days at least.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

A Turn for the Better?

For some reason the laptop does not want to work for me So l am doomed to typing on my tiny pda. l am already working on my second draft Of this post. l am going mad!

Anyway it seems Yumi is doing better pain-wise. She has not asked for pain meds since this afternoon. However, she has been nautious off and on all day. After I saw the doc this morning he has not made another appearance. I guess we have to wait til morning for an update on the next step. In
case there is still confusion about the nature of Yumi's woes, my brother found some great info on wikipedia.com regarding bowel obstructions caused by adhesions. I encourage you to look at it. Thanks, Chris!

Today Aunt Jean showed up with Cousin Jessica and she showed Yumi how to make friendship bracelets. She left supplies with Yumi so she has been busy the rest of the evening making bracelets for her friends.

Tonight I went out to Bellevue to get some craft supplies and yes, Kerri, I stopped by Chilis to get chips n salsa & steak fajita quesadillas to go. I ended up eating in bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 520 trying to get back to my family at the hospital who got there while I was gone! I am very tired of hospital food, but on the other hand, I am loathe to drive anywhere because of the awful Seattle traffic!

Again, I thank everyone for your fervent prayers on our behalf!

Fence-sitting Docs

Well, the surgical team did rounds this morning and said that he was still on the fence over whether or not to operate. We need to get past this episode, but operating has its risks, the least of which is that more adhesions will develop. Usually Yumi is feeling better by this time and the bowels are starting to kick in, but she is still having pain today. I suppose the good news is that she did pass gas once this morning. The doctor didn't seem too impressed, I wonder if it was just a gas bubble that had been sitting in her colon and not necessarily something that has traveled the great highway of her intestinal tract.

I am frustrated having to type on my pda. This is actually my second draft. I went to the Family Resource Center to type this out because halfway through my posting I accidently hit the back button which is right below the space bar. I was so mad. It is very laborious to type on that little thing with my stylus.

Anyways, the PICC-line went in fine last night and after that Yumi was very woozy going to xray. When we got back to the room she slept and slept and slept. Now she's listening to the ipod that David the music guy brought for her to borrow. If she picks out a bunch of songs on it he said that he can make a cd for her to listen to. That ipod currently has about 2000 songs and pieces of music in it! That is an expensive device!

Monday, July 9, 2007

To operate or not to operate... Good Question!

The PICC-line went in fine. Yumi is now sleeping away very soundly. The doctor came in and examined her and she didn't even stir!

So the doctor in charge came to see me and talk about the plan. Looks like the contrast did get a little further in her intestines but still have not reached the colon. Yumi's despondency was better today than yesterday. She entertained a visitor. Yesterday she didn't even want to talk on the phone to her bff! (Although she is still going through quite a bit of meds.) The doctor says he would like to give the bowels a little more time to work. Get another xray tomorrow and see. They still are just not sure if she is having a partial or complete obstruction.

The length of our stay here completely depends on whether or not she is having surgery. If not, hopefully we can go home Friday. . . If she has surgery, it could be longer. These are not days the docs have told me, I am totally going on past experience! So don't hold me to those days! Yumi would love visitors, especially ones she can hang out in the Teen Zone with, so if you'd like to visit, please give us a call and see how she is doing that day. The phone number is 206-987-2000 Room G-2008.

I wouldn't mind an evening visitor myself for a dinner out. Children's is a great facility, but their cafeteria really leaves me hungry!

Praise the Lord for His great mercy on our family. He is our Jehovah-Rafa (Healer).

Pic-line today, surgery tomorrow

They are numbing up the arm w/emla cream. The IV team is coming to put in a pic-line as Yumi's IV has started to go bad. We decided to ask for the pic-line because once they start the IV nutrition she goes through IVs really fast. Once going through 3 in one afternoon! They will also give her a conscious sedative called "versed", which is what they used on her before when she would get bone marrow and spinal taps done in the clinic many years ago in her leukemia days. I've always said that the leukemia was not the worst of everything she's been through and I continue to stand by that statement! The versed is also referred to as the amnesia drug because it makes her forget what happened while she was on it.

The plan from the surgical team is to operate tomorrow. She is still asking for dilautid more frequently than allowed. So she's still in some pain.

I'll update more when I know more! I'm thankful for this blog so I don't have to repeat myself a billion times! When I get to a pc I will write a synopsis of the last several months for those of you that were not aware of her medical problems. *hint to Autumn* ;)

Another Operation?

The surgeons just did rounds & the doc says it looks like Yumi may need another surgery. He will look @ the ct scan & the xray from this morning. There is apparently a large amount of stool in her colon and she may have a full obstruction after all. They like to give a small 2-day window in which to see an improvement with the conservative treatment of decompressing the bowel. When they don't see improvement, then they decide to operate. So, the big question is, how many surgeries will this kid have over her lifetime? Only the Lord knows.

She is still on dilautid. If she has surgery I will ask at that time that they put in a central line. This will make things easier on her veins. Pray for a speedy recovery and of course, wisdom for the doctors!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

yumi had the ct scan today about 1:30. They couldn't tell if this was or partial or full obstruction. The liquid had not reached the colon yet and so they will do an xray about 6pm tonight. I am more worried than usual because she is still experiencing a tremendous amount of pain. She can't have another dose of pain meds for about 15 minutes. So she is trying to zone out. I will post more as more happens and as my internet connection still works on my pda. Thank you for your comments & prayers!
The doctors ordered a CT scan today which they did at 1:30 today. We are waiting for the results. I'm back at the Hospital after a traffic jam at Boeing Field and also getting caught at the ship canal bridge on Montlake Blvd. I've never seen that bridge go up so it was pretty cool considering what a small skinny bridge it is! The kids thought it was pretty cool too.

David said that he never had a better night's sleep, and he wasn't being sarcastic. The couch-bed that they provide for parents in the room is actually pretty comfy. Yumi, on the other hand, is still having pain and was up a lot last night. This is not a good thing. Usually her pain is under control or gone by now, so this is cause for some concern. As always, surgery is a last resort. We'll see what the CT says.

When Everett saw Yumi with tape on her face and the tube coming out her nose he got a little emotional and wanted to give her a hug. But now he's happily watching tv. David and Danielle went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. I stopped by Wal-Mart to get some scrub pants for Yumi, which she really appreciated. They are very comfy with the drawstring instead of the elastic and since they are cotton they do not stretch all over the place in bed. I will update when we get the results from the CT.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Here we are, once again, at Seattle Children's Hospital. Yumi was admitted last night around 11:30 for another bowel obstruction, her second since her surgery in April, and her sixth since the "big one" in March. Last time we went in, the doctors were not clear on why she had another so soon after surgery, but were thinking it was just a fluke. She had gone over a month without an obstruction so things were looking up for her! I'm still hopeful that in the very least, she won't have them as often as she used to (2-4 times a month).

So right now she has an NG tube through her nose decompressing the bowels and an IV. I did request that when this IV goes bad we would like a central line put in. In the past, Yumi goes through IVs fairly quickly once they start the nutrition through her veins. She is still having pain and is still on the dilaudid (sp?) and also zothran for nausea. So far she has not vomited.

We thank you for your prayers and specifically ask for prayer that this will not bring her down. So far she has weathered the poking and prodding pretty well, but it can wear on anyone. It is a setback that she has had another obstruction and that this is not going to be a "thing of the past" as we had hoped. Also, please pray that childcare would be covered for Danielle and Everett. So far we have Monday covered and I have someone from Yumi's school trying to find people for the rest of the week. But, praise the Lord for His grace and mercy on us! Things could definitely be worse!