HOME Sweet HOME!

We're home after 71 days. Heather was discharged on Thursday, May 23rd!

Day 64

They didn't do the flush this morning. Her bilirubin levels dropped from 17 to 14 overnight. She put off about 50 more cc's of bile through her pouch than she has been putting off. Hopefully the antibiotics they are giving her for her incision infection are helping the possible cholangitis (infection of the bile ducts)that may be causing the decreased flow, abdominal pain, and INTENSE jaundice.

She got the wound vac put on today. Hoping this thing does the trick. It's pretty complicated looking. I'm hoping we can get a home nurse agency to come out to help with it if she's sent home with it.

She has wayyyy too many accessories on her body now.

She's in good spirits in spite of everything. She cracks jokes with the Dr's, nurses, c-techs, and housekeeping ladies. She's truly an inspiration.

Day 63 of the Dreadful GI Hostage Situation.

That's what Heather's dry erase board says. It's been two weeks since the surgery and we are STILL here. Her bilirubin is up to 17. Her bile ducts have decided they don't want to drain into her bag. However, the new ileostomy is working wonderfully. The incision is infected. It looks pretty bad. I haven't gotten the guts to photograph it yet, but I'm sure I will. Anybody easily grossed out would do well to avoid my Flickr album. After doing some searching through Flickr, I was pleased to see I'm not the only weirdo that photographs post-op pics. There's plenty of us out there.
Tomorrow they are doing a procedure to try to flush her bile ducts to get things flowing.

She's eating a low fiber diet, and loving it. She's requiring 4-5 GRAMS of sodium a day to keep her electrolytes in check. She cannot drink any "free" water at all.. it washes out her sodium.


There's been talk that she may be sent home while the PIC line is still in place. This terrifies me, but not near as bad as the gaping hole in her tummy that I will be dressing a few times daily.

Hoping we go home soon... hope my next blog is from home.