Update on Mom

**Update** A wonderful nurse in our church, Betty Thibeaux, was able to call the gastroenterologist and get mom an appointment for this afternoon at 4:00. Pray that the right decision will be made. Dad would like to see the tube come out, but she isn't able to drink water, so that decision will be up to the Dr.


Several have asked about an update on Linda since she came home last Thursday. I’m sorry I didn’t write an update in time for church on Sunday, but I just haven’t had time. I thought with her being at home I would have more time to catch up some things that have gone undone while I spent time at the hospital. (And on the highway) Anyway, every minute is pretty much filled with things to do around the house either with Linda, Linda’s mom or the house.

Overall things have gone well but still far from where we would like to be in her recovery. We knew there would be “bumps” along the way and wouldn’t you just know the first big bump came on the weekend, Sunday in fact. Linda’s feeding tube (G tube) has been showing signs of drainage even while she was in the hospital. Well, Sunday morning that drainage became major leakage. (Too gross to go into details) We sort of panicked and began calling doctors and nurses. The home health nurse came out on Sunday afternoon and decided she should see a doctor Monday morning. She didn’t think it was bad enough to endure the emergency room wait.

Monday was a very tiring day for Linda. We carried her to her primary doctor and fortunately (God’s doing) was able to get in to see him. He changed some things with Linda’s diabetes, including putting her back on oral medication instead of the insulin prescribed by the doctors while she was in the hospital. However, he could not treat her G tube problem. He could only prescribe an antibiotic and refer her to a gastroenterologist. Her appointment with his office is not until Thursday afternoon. This tube has been very painful for her to have to endure. We are only using it for her water intake, not food. She is able to eat certain foods and enough to maintain needed nutrition. We don’t know if the tube will be removed or not.

If you read this on Wednesday morning, PRAY that there would be an opening today for the doctor to see Linda. This tube is really causing her pain.

Some other side notes to her “road to recovery”: She is now under the care of a home health organization and they will provide nurse care, speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy for several weeks. The time depends upon her response and how well she does. Being home has really been a great help to her. She still gets tired quickly and doesn’t have much stamina for staying up very long. We think this will improve as she is able to get rid of the pain and discomfort of the tube so she can work on her physical therapy exercises. So, pray for her as she tackles each day with new determination to get better.

Keep Praying and Keep Looking Up,

Joe