Day 13 & 14

*UPDATES*

4/10/23 @7PM

Day #14

I've been with Tony for more than half my life. This year is 23 years married to THE most incredible human I've ever known. Over the years, my identity has become more "mom/wife" and a little less, "Becky." It's an honor to have that privilege. But, with that identity comes intuition, a "spidey-sense" of knowing my people. And, I can honestly say, Tony is struggling. He has been so tired the last two days. Laps just aren't happening as frequently, and I think he's just so done. He's tired of the constant pain. He's frustrated that his body isn't doing what he wants. This has been so taxing in every way. And...I worry. I worry about his mental health AND his physical state.

His white blood cell count has come down. His platelets are still high. His Lipase is still well out of normal range. He did say that food "smelled good" today, whereas before the smell was repulsive. It's a fine line for me to "push" him and when to see the limit has been reached and to let him rest. The bruises on his legs are bigger, darker. Would you pray against clotting? He's lost 15 pounds, which is shocking because the fluid around his abdomen looks like we're about to welcome Baby #7. It will be alarming to see how small he's gotten when we officially get out of here. 

The plan is the same. Let his body do the talking. Eventually, lower the pain doses, and introduce clear fluids. If his pancreas reacts again to ANY food or liquid,... we start again... a major setback. 

Would you continue to pray? For him, but also, for all of us.

We broke Luna out of boarding tonight cause our hearts and clothes needed some extra German Shepherd Fur. She goes back tomorrow. I didn't get her a pup cup, but I'm thinking about letting her sleep in Tony's spot. Our hearts are both worried and happy. What a conundrum. 

Until tomorrow, our village. Until tomorrow.

 *UPDATES*

4/9/23 @5:30PM

Hospital Day #13

Tony seemed more tired today and slept a bit more than the last few days. His pain is still there and being managed fairly well. They have stopped the antibiotics for now to give his body a break and see what his white blood cell count does. (It was down a smidch again today.) His platelets are pretty high today, which could be an inflammation marker.

He's still getting 100% of his nutrition from the feeding tube. He's still working on breathing treatments for the partially collapsed lung. And he's now up to 16 "laps" per day.

Our sons visited this afternoon (Micah's first time seeing him in 14 days.) 😭 They brought cards, and it was nice to see Tony light up a bit for some "normalcy" and time with his boys. Not sure his energy will last long with them.

The goal going forward is to eventually try and taper down Tony's pain medication (this is sooooo important for us going home. Please see my Day 6 & 7 blog in regards to the sensitivity of this and PLEASE pray us through it.) They want to SLOWLY introduce LIQUIDS by mouth, and then eventually supplement food by mouth (without pain) in addition to the feeding tube. Doctor Lai doesn't forsee this being done by his "end of day" shift on Tuesday. He plans to do some more labs tomorrow (in addition to the daily ones) to check his Lipase and CRP levels again. This may or may not be indicative if the pancreas has further necrotized. 

Thank you to Stephanie Hosszu and Noelle Hounshell for setting up a Give Send Go account for us. We. Are. Blown. Away. I told Tony about it and the Venmo donations today and told him that it will allll work out...he just needs to rest and get BETTER. We trust God's plan. I NEVER thought we'd be on the receiving end of one of these. I'm sharing here since so many have asked:

https://www.givesendgo.com/thenelsonfamily

We COVET prayers also! Please please pray!

We hope you all had a JOY-FILLED Easter!

I will update more tomorrow, Day 14.

*As for now, Tony still requests no visitors*

(He is just so sleepy and not really in the mood to chat or listen. Thank you for respecting that. I, however, LOVE to see familiar faces! If you work here, PLEASE come squeeze me.)