Road to Recovery

It is amazing my last post was almost two weeks ago. Time is flying by and I am grateful for that. Dan was in the hospital for another week after my post. They slowly introduced foods on Sunday, May 22nd, starting with clear liquids, then full liquids, which includes foods like yogurt and pudding. By Wednesday he was on "solids" but that is hard to do since Dan needs to be on a low fiber diet and we have found that healthy foods all have a lot of fiber in them. They kept him on TPN (the IV nutrition) until we were released. Although Dan was eating it wasn't enough to take him off the TPN.

Tuesday Dan's sister Sara flew home, we were sad to see her go, but were blessed to have Dan's friend Brian staying with us and he was a huge help over the next few days along with Ben and our friend Danny and a few other visitors. Dan had his drains removed and had a final CT scan which revealed some interesting stuff, but overall cleared Dan to go home by the weekend. We were so excited, Tuesday was the first time the Dr. even mentioned the idea of going home.

Over then next few days as Dan was eating and improving we kept our fingers crossed we would still be released. Friday, May 27th after 18 days we were finally being released. We were so thankful to be going home and under such better circumstances than last time. We felt like everyone was more confident in Dan's recovery and that fact that we were almost three weeks out from surgery meant the odds of any complications were really low. The funniest part about leaving was that Dan, who had walked circles around the hospital during his stay, still wanted to be wheeled out to the car in a wheel chair. He said it was a tradition, all I could do was laugh and enjoy the moment that we were headed home, even though he was more than capable of walking out on his own.

Friday night both Dan and I slept great! It was amazing, no nurses coming in to check Dan, no beeping machines, just peace and quiet and the best part of all, Dan by my side, not across the room. It was also such a relief since sleep was one of the biggest challenges we faced when we were home the last time. The biggest event of the weekend was our trip to Walmart to buy groceries. Dan was tempted to use one of the electric carts, but I am glad he decided he needed the exercise. Dan and I spent lots of time reviewing each item we bought to make sure it was low fiber, low fat, and on the recommended Crohn's diet food list. Dan won't be on such a restricted diet forever, but there are definitely some life long changes we are going to incorporate.

Monday we had to go back to the hospital for some lab work. We ran into Maria the housekeeping lady who we quickly had to let her know we came back on our own free will for blood work. It is amazing how many people we know at that hospital, but after spending 28 days there, it happens. The blood work went quickly and easily.

Tuesday we had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Preciado. That went very smoothly which was such a relief. The incision and wound were healing well, Dan was feeling well, and besides his low weight he was improving. That afternoon we went for a walk outside. It was a beautiful day. It was good to get out and we ran into several neighbors which was nice.

Wednesday we had an appointment with Dr. Jones. He was worried about Dan’s low weight and encouraged us to meet with a nutritionist. I think we just need a little more time to get Dan adjusted to eating again and the weight will come. We also don’t really want to meet with the nutritionist at the hospital because she is a little nuts and we had about enough of her while there. She is nice, but just a little out there. Next we learned how serious Dan’s blood clots are. We thought he would be on this medication Coumandin for a couple of months, no big deal. Well, Coumadin is one of the strongest blood thinners out there and has to be monitored very very carefully. There are actually clinics that all they do is monitor your Coumadin/blood levels. Dr. Jones explained that these clots might actually take priority in concern over his Crohns right now. If these clots get worse they could cause severe damage to Dan’s intestines to the point that Dan would need an intestine transplant. Wow, not what we expected to here, but we are grateful to know that it is being watched.

Things are definitely getting better each day. We are optimistic and have faith that things will only continue to improve from here on out. We feel blessed to be in the hands of great doctors and in the thoughts and prayers of so many others. We are thankful for all the love and support we have received during this time. I don't think I could have made it through without out the many prayers that were said for us.

Thank you for all that each of you have done.