Great Day!

I left the hospital happier than I've been in a week.  Not that she's been in the hospital a week, but things just haven't been so great for almost two weeks, so yes, I'm happier than I've been in a week.  Why?  Because Mom has made such drastic improvement.  When I came in today she looked up and smiled at me, she actually said hello, her eyes were nice and clear.  Dad went for a walk and Mom and I got a chance to talk for a while and it was amazing.  I asked her how much of the last few days she remembers and she doesn't remember most of it, besides the fact that it's been incredibly difficult, but as I told her some of the funny moments, she told me she remembered a few of them.  She doesn't know too much about her condition, but she told me she didn't think she wanted to know right now.  I don't blame her.  She's been able to eat a few ice cubes and that's making her happier too.  She's shown each of us how her esophagus makes a funny noise when she swallows, she's able to get in and out of bed pretty much on her own so she can go from the bed to the recliner as she needs to, she took a walk down the hall and back again, and she's had the last of her drains removed.  All she has in now is the spit fistula, her feeding tube, and one IV.  I wish I could remember all of the funny comments she made, but she was pretty funny tonight, and I remember at one point, looking over at Dad and saying, "Well, Mom's back."  We're all very happy about that.  I've missed my mommy the past several days.

Her surgeon came by again this evening and he said more pathology reports have come back and right now it looks like she's only going to need chemo instead of chemo and radiation.  She's still looking good for being discharged in a day or two, and when I asked him about post-op care, he said that he won't need to see her for about 2 weeks after he discharges her and then maybe again in 2 month after that. 

I think we're probably still going to need to restrict visitors a bit, she's just so easily worn out and when she gets that way, she gets a little more anxious when other people are around.  Tonight, the whole family was in the room and she knew she was getting tired and we kept telling her to let us know when she'd had enough.  Because we are family, she did end up telling us when she'd had enough, but I know she'll never do that for anyone outside of our immediate family.  She's also pretty sensitive to smells.  I put some lotion on this morning and she told me very nicely that smells were getting to her, so I just went and washed my hands again and we were fine.  Dad's also been trying to sneak around so he's not eating right in front of her.  He ate a Reese's Buttercup earlier and right after he finished eating it, she called him.  He came over and she immediately said, "Peanut butter?"  So we're trying to be careful and considerate.

I read to her all of your comments that have been posted and she seemed to really enjoy it.  I know at one point she made the comment that there were people posting on the blog that she hadn't talked to in years and I think it meant a lot to her that so many of you are praying for her and sending her your love.  Please keep it up, she's doing better than she was a few days ago, but she's got a long, long way to go and we'll continue to need your love and support.  We've had quite a few people tell us that they weren't able to get their comments to save on the blog.  I'm sorry about that, I don't really know how to fix that, but even if you don't comment, we know you love us.  And we love you.  Let's hope it just keeps getting better!