Day 6

Today was a much better day! The CT scan looked good and showed that Nate's bowel isn't leaking, and there was no sign of infection. He has some free air in his abdomen which will work itself out eventually. The chest x-ray showed a pleural effusion and a partially collapsed lung on the right side. Dr. Lambert wanted to have it drained, but the interventional radiologist said he would rather watch it and see if it will resolve on its own. They're giving him more diuretics in the hope that it will help Nate's body absorb the extra fluid on its own.

We feel lucky that after all of that, Nate only had a UTI. Phew! Yesterday was really stressful!

He's doing really well today. They took out his epidural and his pain pump. He's now on oral pain meds, which means he's one step closer to coming home! He's getting better and longer stretches of sleep and not waking up every 20 minutes. He's been getting up more often for walks, and he's starting to eat food! Yay! He'll get that prime rib in no time at all!

I was looking at the pictures I took of Nate, and noticed how much 'skinnier' his IV pole looks today! It's so great to see them taking equipment out of the room!

Genn and Nancy flew out today so I drove them to Boston and got a break from the hospital, and Nate got a break from me! I appreciated having Genn and Nancy here, but I look at them leaving as a milestone we've met. Hope that makes sense!

Now we'll just work on getting Nate to eat, controlling his pain, and getting him out of his hospital room for a little exercise. We feel grateful for the progress he's made so far and for all the people that have helped him get there. Thanks again everyone...we feel so much love and support.