Status Update -- Monday, March 2

We'd been forewarned by the doctors that this would be a "roller coaster ride" of recovery -- that good days would be followed by not-so-good ones. That's an apt description of what we saw today. It wasn't bad (which is, of course, good in our new world...); it was just quiet. Caitlin slept almost all day; she'd been only lightly sedated for the changing of the wound pack which seals the section of the incision still open, and she slept all day.

At one point while I was there she woke up enough to, I think, recognize me for an instant, and then was totally disoriented. That's hard to see, and I hope my reassurances about where and how she was doing were sufficient to ease the panic I saw in her eyes. She drifted back to sleep.

So, it was a quiet day for her, and we pray and believe that these quiet, resting days are healing times. Her fatigue possibly also was a response to the previous, more alert, responsive days we've just seen.

She's still improving, and that is all that counts.

Status Update -- Monday, February 23

They were unable to close Caitlin's surgical incision today, but while she was under anaesthesia they were able to check the status of the intestines, and they remain healthy and uninfected. That's excellent news! They'll try to suture again on Wednesday; hopefully by then the swelling will have receded enough.

We learned today that yesterday she received an additional two pints of blood, for a low hematacrit, not because of any loss due to bleeding.

She's still heavily sedated -- partly due to aftermath of anaesthesia; partly for pain relief, and partly for anxiety relief.

They also have begun the protocol for weaning from the ventilator; the alternative will be the tracheostomy, which will be a step forward to our understanding.

It's heartrending for us to see how difficult this is for her, but we remain focused on the many little steps she's taken since a week ago Saturday. The biggest step of all, of course, is that she's with us. That is everything!