failblog- but not entirely

The food trial failed. My drains collected a lot more than usual, even when my eating was minimal. Perspective: last night, one drain put out 75mL in 8 hours; before the food trial, I was getting 40-50 combined for the whole day. Darn pancreas.

Now I'm back to NPO except water when I'm thirsty. I will have to go home on TPN; but the hidden gem of that sentence is that I'm going home. Tomorrow. That is sweet.

A few weeks ago, I had joked with Ashley that I had better go home before one extremely pregnant resident had her baby. She had her baby today. Fail.

So here's basically what life will look like at home (not my 'home' home, but my parents' home in Lodi--it's different once you're married):

TPN at night

Blood sugar checks about 4x/day

Wound vac changes 3x/week

PICC line dressing change once a week

NPO (no food)

Thankfully, no more IV meds

Weekly visits with the surgeon at Stanford (at least at first- frequency will probably go down after a while)

While I'm not really happy to be back on TPN, I know my pancreas isn't quite ready for food yet. Hopefully, the drains will dry up quickly like they did before when I was on TPN, and I won't have to be on it for too long. I'm not afraid of TPN really; I just want everything that is wrong to be righted, and I think the best way to do that is with TPN. Though it is far less fun.

This drain failure is a step back, but I am taking steps forward. It has been a long ordeal; it will be a little longer. Many of you have prayed for me; I would appreciate a continuation of that. I look forward to the day when I don't have to worry about my pancreas anymore. Until then...

Prayer requests:

Quick drying of the drains

Good healing of the wound

No return to the hospital (except for planned visits with the surgeon)

Ability to go home to La Mirada with Ashley