Slow Going

Lillian has defeated the evil infection and is off of the antibiotics. She is still retaining about 4 liters of fluids. They feel that they have "wrung her out" as much as they can with the diuretics and now it is time for her body to give up the fluids on its own. Once her organs realize they are okay, her body should feel safe to release the fluids. Her lungs are still pretty sick so she is still on the ventilator. The docs say it may be another week or two until she can be extubated (ie - off the ventilator).

Overall her recovery is slow. There are days of stagnation punctuated with little steps forward or backward. Basically, she is just taking her own sweet time. But that's okay with us as long as she remains comfortable. Perhaps she just needed a good rest after fighting so hard against cancer all these months.

In the meanwhile, our fav Physical Therapist, Shana, is keeping her limbs loose. I've made it to church two weekends in a row. We are still tag-teaming the night duty so one of us gets to sleep at home in our own bed. And I swear spring has sprung overnight. I left the hospital and was amazed to see the flowering cherry trees and daffodils in bloom. I can't wait for Lillian to see all the pretty flowers and trees!

A month in the PICU will certainly give us a new perspective on just about everything. We've already been there for 2 weeks and the days are a blur. I'm guessing this is what prisoners go through. We certainly have more freedoms and are choosing to be incarcerated for the most part so I'm not trying to be over-dramatic. But, the confinement, the limited meal choices, the hard bed, the infrequent time out of our cell, I mean room, all lead to a rather monotonous, dazed routine. It's easy to miss the lives all around us rushing past while ours are on hold. Soon enough, we will be sprung from the pokey and life will resume its sprinters pace. But this time with the perspective of what an involuntary pause feels like. Lance Armstrong started a foundation in support of people affected by cancer. He chose the slogan "LiveStrong" because before cancer he just lived but now he lives strong. That is our intention as well.

"Life isn't measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away."