Weekend's Events

Here it is already Monday morning and I haven't posted anything since last week. Since having brought Andrew over and staying with Emily, it's been quite a monopoly of time.

I was able to give Maria Marcela a break from staying with Emily 24 x 7 beginning Friday night since we got a hotel nearby and allowed her and Andrew to enjoy some time together.

Over the weekend, we had a visit from the neurosurgeon who had expressed several things. The primary concern now is her the working of her bladder. She's not even experiencing incontinence. She's just simply not able to go. Which requires 4 times a day for the nurse to administer catheritization, empty the bladder by unnatural means. Needless to say, it's not one of Emily's favorite things. But there is even greater attention to emptying the bladder since she has only one kidney and we don't want to risk long term damage to that one. The doctor seems to be optimistic that she will ultimately regain her ability to walk. She is still experiencing a great deal of pain in her legs. It's amazing how she has this long 10-12 inch scar on her back from the actual surgery and she literally shows no indication of it being of any discomfort.

She eats well and we're trying to pump her with liquids so we can flush the kidney as quick as possible. This week, they will be focusing on rehab and getting her up and moving around, trying to get those legs moving. We're also hopeful that she will regain the simple urge to go to the potty.

We had quite a few visitors over the weekend and really want to thank our friends and family for that. There's also been some very generous contributions to Emily's medical fund of which we are incredibly grateful.

The hospital staff recommended to us the Ronald McDonald house here next to the hospital as a place for us to stay since we don't really know how long Emily will be in the hospital. So, at this very moment, I'm in one of the rooms they assigned to us, while trying to work my job doing a few tasks, etc. The option of staying here has relieved quite a bit of pressure from us since obviously a hotel stay can add up, but also the convenience of being right next door.

Andrew is enjoying it all since he loves staying in hotels.

The outlook: We're hoping she can go home in the next few days, but it means us administering the catheter to relieve her bladder. The doctor seems to think it will be a couple more weeks. He did state that, as far as he is concerned she can go home now, however, it's up to the neurologist to determine that taking into consideration her bladder problem and her legs.

Will give more updates as we learn more.