Sun. Nov. 7: Day 6 in the Hospital

Notes from Katherine

Thomas and I are going on very little sleep, but that is for the positive reason of all his insides starting to work very well--all night long. I will have time to sleep when I'm dead.

Thomas felt great this morning, so we started doing some school at 6:00 a.m.

Playdough

Notes from Chris

On Sunday after taking the other kids to Mass, our daughter Mary and I switched out with Katherine in time to help Thomas through some important progress.   

Thomas is now free of his NG tube, which frees him enough to try walking and sitting up in a chair.  He said he felt heavy on his feet.  He also asked to start wearing sweatpants.   

All these milestones are important psychologically for his healing process.  Every tube and wire removed helps Thomas feel more like a real boy and less like a hospital patient. 

Katherine went home for an extended afternoon and dinner out with the other kids.

I am sure there will be other pictures later on.

Notes from Katherine

The day ended with the next fabulous milestone: Thomas was "cleared for clears"! That means his surgeon now allows him to sip clear liquids and popsicles. He has tried a few sugar-free clear drinks and some chicken broth, much to his delight.

While we completely trust our surgeon's 30 years' experience in guiding us, you can perhaps imagine our parental nerves are more on edge this time. The last time around, Thomas had massive GI reconstruction surgery in early and mid-December, yet he wasn't allowed clears, purees, and solids for more than six weeks later because he was so near to death for so many bodily reasons. This time around, he had major GI reconstruction surgery six days prior (this is considered Day 5 post-op) and here we go, putting liquids down his intestinal tract, and knowing actual foods are soon to come. We are having to trust that all those intestines cut and sewn back together will hold and not leak or do other dreadful things only a worried mother's mind can imagine!