We're finally home. It's been a busy few days since our last update late Sunday. That night surgery told us to expect to leave the hospital Thursday or Friday, which was disappointing.
Nevertheless, we woke up Monday morning excited to know that Eila was finally going to get to eat. The surgeons authorized the nurses to remove her NG tube, and Eila was moved to the clear liquid menu: jello and popsicles.
I don't know if it was the fact that she no longer had a tube sticking out of her nose, or the fact that she was ingesting food, but Eila's mood improved dramatically. All week, Eila had been (understandably) crabby and lethargic. Now, we had our happy, darling, sweet Eila back.
It also helped that, with fewer tubes, we were able to get Eila our of the room a little bit. We took some long wagon rides through the hospital halls.
We also played in the playroom located on our floor. Eila was timid at first, and for a while her legs were too shaky to walk. But by noon she was walking, albeit slowly and timidly.
That afternoon, Eila took a looooong nap (four hours!). It had been quite a morning.
Tuesday morning, the surgeons stopped by at about 8:00 in the morning to let us know that they had cleared Eila to eat solid food: no limits. This was a surprise; we thought this might not happen until Wednesday. They also indicated that if all went well with Eila's eating, we might leave that night! Given the surgeons earlier prediction of a late week discharge, Dana and I were ecstatic.
Eila ordered a blueberry muffin, watermelon, jam toast, rice krispies, and whole milk, and she ate almost all of it. She also shared some tea with Mommy (something she'd been asking for all week).
For lunch, she ate a large hot dog with ketchup (no bun) and drank some whole milk. She was in GREAT spirits.
Also on Tuesday the nurses unhooked her remaining tubes, the drainage tube and (temporarily) her IV. All of this left Eila so excited that she refused to take a nap.
Late that night, the surgeons authorized our discharge.
We excitedly packed everything up and got back to Corvallis late in the night. Grandpa was there to greet us, but Annikka had long since gone to bed.
With surgery behind us, we wait to hear the pathologists' analysis of Eila's tumor. Those results will determine what lies ahead for Eila's treatment.
2 comments:
Glad to find out you made it back to Corvallis. Those late night drives back from Portland can be pretty tiring. There's not much to see in the dark. Usually the traffic isn't too bad though. Although I remember coming back in a late night ice storm once. Actually the ice didn't hit until we got to the hwy 34 exit on I-5. Then it was another hour until we got home. :o( Great to hear that none of that happened to you. May all your homecomings be safe and joyous.
Whahoo! So glad you're home again!
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