Healing

Wow,

Where did the weekend go?

Emmett came out of a flawless surgery on Friday sans stent and plus a feeding tube. He was surprisingly conscious all afternoon and late into the evening. Despite the disbelief of the doctors and nurses, he continued to complain of pain late into the night, sitting almost immobile. Finally, around 3 a.m. after more pestering from us, our night nurse discovered that Emmett's pain pump was leaking medicine, so he wasn't getting much, if any, pain meds. She switched it out, and he was happily passed out by 4 a.m. But alas, the nurses and doctors were upon us by 6 a.m., so most of Saturday passed in a haze of napping. After much threatening form doctors and nurses (for things I will not mention here), he forced himself to use the bathroom in an amazing two hour ordeal that left us both exhausted.

Sunday Emmett was able to get to the chair by his bed and sit for a short time, and today he made two laps around the round wing and sat in a chair for four to five hours. Such exertions are generally followed by a lengthy nap and recovery period. They finally put him on IV nutrition Saturday night, and they've tried to begin using his feeding tube today. There was actually a blush tint to his cheek when I returned to the hospital tonight. That was an awesome sight to see.

It continues to surprise me that the healing process can be such a roller coaster ride. In many ways it was a good day because Emmett was able to get out of bed so much, yet he's also paying dearly for it tonight. While making a couple laps around the hallway is definitely an accomplishment, it also accentuates how far we still have to go. He needs to be completely better for chemo to begin, and that day still feels a long ways away. Tonight, as he lingered over the ever-anticipated red jello, it was obvious that Emmett was physically and emotionally spent. The valium that usually helps him rest has sent his over active brain into hallucinations, and he is currently dozing fitfully and keeps waking up confused, thinking he was just in the middle of a conversation. This is a hard, hard fight for Emmett, so keep him in your prayers. In some ways each ounce of joy we experience is purchased with three times the amount of sorrow and weariness. Your prayers hold us up during these times, so thank you for saturating us in them.