1/17 Update - Rolling, Eating and, um, Improving Digestive Functions

Today and yesterday were pretty solid days Jamie's recovery. Jamie's Papa Gene, Uncle Mark and Aunt Debra visited on Saturday and Sunday morning. I'll be out of here Monday morning, but KC will be swapped in to take my place tomorrow evening. Mom's staying at one of our several homes away from home tonight. I'm here at the hospital with Jamie. We just watched Into the Wild, and we're watching Tropic Thunder, but I hope Jamie's getting sleepy.

I'll try to hit the most important events of the last few days:

1) As the book says, Everybody Poops.... everybody except for Jamie, apparently. Two days ago, I wrote about how we were looking at Jamies digestive system to see why Jamie hasn't been able to eat too much without getting sick and to see why she hasn't been pooping too much. We got that stomach x-ray and her stomach isn't enlarged, she's simply stopped up... really stopped up. So, we've had to take, ummm... alternate measures to help her poop. You see, not pooping, on its own, isn't that big of a deal, but the not pooping is causing the stomach to not work too well, and when the stomach isn't working properly, she can't eat too much food without getting nauseous, and if she can't eat without getting sick, then she can't get the nutrients she needs. This brings us to the beginning: Jamie needs to eat real food. She can't be getting her nutrients through her IV because (1) they said we can't and (2) the stomach needs to digest food... its the only way to get her eating like a normal person again. So, in sum, she needs to poop in order to get more protein and other good nutrients. Yesterday and today, Jamie was given some... assistance... to help move things along, and we're pleased to report that things are working well. (Sorry to use the same words over and over again. Its 1:30 am and I'm getting sleepy and stupid). We'll take additional measures tomorrow morning to help move things along, but, enough about poop....

2) We're getting closer to wheeling Jamie around the St. Joseph medical center. Today, as part of her physical therapy, we moved her into a chair like we usually do. We used the purple-people-mover to move Jamie from the bed to the chair. Without a doubt, it was the best transfer we've ever had. Smooth and painless. AND, we moved Jamie into a wheelchair for the first time. The wheelchair wasn't too uncomfortable either. Mom and I were all set to push Jamie to the ICU and all around the hospital, but, because Jamie's still in contact isolation (gloves/gown), she's not allowed to leave her room for the time being. So we wheeled her around the room. Not as much fun as we were planning, but its a step in the right direction!

3) The other news concerns Jamie's food/calorie intake. She's been taken off of the TPM, which was giving her extra nutrients. TPM is basically like an IV but it gives her extra vitamins and other stuff, but you can't be on it for too long before your body starts adjusting to it in a negative way: stops producing insulin or something pretty annoying. So, we took her off of the TPM. Good. Now she needs to start eating lots without vomiting. Good news: She's been eating a lot more than she has been, and she's also been more receptive about the foods we've been giving her.

You know what? I'm tired again. I need to start working on these sooner in the evenings. All is well here though. Jamie has been sleeping soundly and once she starts eating more she'll get more energy.

Sneak preview of what's coming up: I'm going to repost the Text Message updates that we were sending out back before we had the blog/facebook group. I think that will be of some use to Jamie's supporters that weren't with us during the early weeks. Until then, its time to sleep and then back to Dallas tomorrow morning. Send some shitty thoughts and warm wishes our way, we'll need them.

See what I did there? Its a pun, I think... Good night.