Update Monday July 2

No wonder my mom has her days and nights confused. So do I! Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day but good progress overall.

Update Monday July 2

Overall good news today, though it came in such an up and down manner it almost didn't feel like it.  My sister received two voicemails overnight from my Mom; in one she sounded extremely clear and in the other, a bit more "out of it" as she has been.  We think that what's happening is she was confused about whether it was morning or evening.  So, we didn't know what to expect when we went in this morning.

She was disoriented quite a bit this morning, it kind of spooked me and probably Diana a bit.  We don't know the cause, whether physical, coming off medications, withdrawal from medications that she stopped taking when she went to the ER one week ago, spiritual, etc.  We prayed for power over whatever it was that was affecting her, and she was not disoriented the rest of the day (but was a bit "out of it" still, as she has been).  Praise God. We know that whichever cause it may be - that God has power and dominion over any and all causes.

She was moved to a "progressive care" room in the late morning.  This is good news, as the doctors would only do this if she is stable/improving.  She has her own room, as she did before, but there is less noise and beeping and it should be quieter for her.  The trade-off is that the nurses are less attentive (more on that below).

An ENT team doctor (her main doctor is a thoracic surgeon) came to see her and said that they usually wouldn't do a swallow test (to see if there is still a tear in the esophagus) one week after the surgery.  She also said that the yellow liquid coming from the drain in my mom's neck could be problematic, and needed to be watched.  When I later spoke with the thoracic surgeon, he confirmed that they would do the swallow test on this Friday, and that he thought the liquid was probably  from the past abscess and still draining, and that she was not running a fever and her white cell count was lowered (which is good), so he isn't that concerned about that.  This paragraph though took place over several hours, so there is a lot of up and down emotionally during the day.

What the surgeon emphasized, is that she needs to be up and walking around (I imagine as her strength improves, not 24 hours a day).  She was very tired today and sleeping each time I checked in on her this afternoon, over a 3-4 hour period she was asleep each time.  But, tomorrow - our task begins.  Making sure my Mom is up and walking around when possible.  She also has a plastic thingy that measures her lung capacity and its her job to suck in on that too, which helps the lungs re: their concern about potential pneumonia.  We need to make sure the nurse comes to show us how, but we don't necessarily need the nurse there while we walk with her.  We need to start taking a bit of control/proactivity to make sure she is doing this, as the nurses etc are all busy, as you can imagine...

I don't know if this comes across in the email, but the day was quite up and down, making it really tiring emotionally on me personally.  The discussion with the thoracic surgeon at the end of the day was reassuring and so the day started (listening to my Mom's voicemail) and ended on a positive note, with much up and down between.

Please pray for:
My Mom to fight off any infection, and for God's hand to specifically move and remove any infection from her body
My Mom's state of mind to improve, that she understand what day it is and start to come to, and be "with it"
That her state of mind be positive, and that God protect her mind
Her esophagus to heal fully - specifically by this Friday
Receptive and helpful nurses as we start to walk with my Mom, and my Mom's body to start to rework fully (she is apparently going to the
bathroom ok on her own, which is an answer to prayer that her bodily functions start to work well on their own again)
Health and peace for Diana, Nico and me

With Love,

Russell

ps - After dinner at our hotel, I heard some music coming from a small conference room the hotel has around the corner.  It sounded like church
music.  I went to have a look - and about 8 people were there finishing up a meeting, listening to praise music, clapping their hands, and
singing Hallelujah.  They invited me to join them, and I did.  Why does God keep showing up ?