Kankles

Today's picture is by Jerid's request. He wanted to show everyone his kankles. He says that they don't belong on his body and he wants to cut them off. He keeps them elevated and makes me massage them, yet the swelling still won't go down. He just wanted to share a photo of them so that everyone could enjoy the lovely sight, not just us. What a sweetheart.

All in all, I'd say that we had a good day. As usual, it was busy and crazy. Nurses, doctors, tubes and fluids. Good times.

First I'll go over our biggest issue right now. Our first real bump in the road. The bacteria in the blood. They still haven't been able to get rid of it and are now bringing out the "big guns" antibiotics. We really need Jerid to be receptive to in and nonresistant. This should be what you pray for today, if that's what you're doing. If you don't pray, then please just send positive thoughts or chant or do some sort of dance.

They're not positive as to what's causing the bacteria, and are starting with the most obvious. The wound in his abdomen. If you look back to the pictures that show Jerid's incision, you'll see that the lung scar goes from just below his collar bone to about 2 inches above his belly button. It is very common for fluid and blood to pool at the bottom of the incision. This is what happened in Jerid's case. Though it shows no signs of infection, that is very possibly where the bacteria is getting in. They have taken out 3 staples and 3 times a day they open it up, clean it, and pack it with gauze. However, it's still not healing properly. So they have to do surgery to fix it. On Friday they will take him to the O.R. and clean it out really well. Once they're in there, they may have to take muscle from another part of his chest to lay over the area so that it will close up and heal properly.

Also on Friday, Jerid will be having a bronchoscopy, where they put a giant tube down his throat and into his lungs. (Yes, he'll be knocked out). They do this to all lung transplant patients 2 weeks after. It is done for 2 reasons. First, to check and make sure that everything is connected correctly and to double check the surgery, and two, to clean up. When the donor's lungs got cold after they were removed, the lungs got a sort of sunburn. So the top layer sloughs off and collects in the lungs. The doctors will clean this up and anything else hanging out in there.

These are routine procedures and nothing to be worried about. The doctors are very used to doing these things and they will help Jerid heal much faster. The only thing, is that because of the incision wound surgery, it will cause him to have a longer hospital stay. But as far as bumps in the road go, we're very lucky that this is all we've had to deal with. It could be much worse.

On to better news. Jerid ate his WHOLE dinner tonight. Roast beef, carrots and mashed potatoes. (All ground up of course.) A bowl of applesauce and a whole container of Ensure. Big boy! That alone made my day.

He had a chest tube pulled. One down, 3 to go. The chest tubes are actually what cause most of his pain. And since they're connected to boxes that sit on the floor which hold the drained fluid, it holds him back from being able to get out of bed and do things easily. So this is very exciting.

After dinner, Jerid took an evening stroll. All the way to the nurses station, then to the end to the end of the station, and back again. Almost double what he did yesterday! Go Jerid! Again, I asked him if he was proud of himself. No, he said. He was just doing what he's supposed to do. What am I supposed to do with this man? Seriously.

As some of you may know, I'm coming home for the weekend. Annalise and I are in our very good friend Jennie's wedding. I'm a bridesmaid and Annie is the flower girl. Don't worry, I'll post pictures of the cutest flower girl EVER! I'm leaving from the hospital tomorrow evening and will be back on Sunday. Hopefully I still get to blog, though it won't be first hand news. Rick and Rose are flying in Friday evening and staying until Sunday. It's actually all working out quite well. I miss my little pumpkin so much and can't wait to see her.

Yes, I'll miss Jerid too, and will worry, but I feel completely confidant in these doctors here at The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. They have been amazing and the entire staff is giving Jerid the best care I could possibly ask for. I wouldn't want him anywhere else. It's funny how things work out. It was so crazy that he had to come all the way to Philadelphia, but they really do have the experience and knowledge to give him the best care possible. Thank you doctors, nurses, aids and entire staff at HUP!