Merry Christmas to everyone. We enjoyed good times with our family and Trish and Jay and kids stayed with us for almost a week. However, in the busyness of that, Jim caught a cold which went right to his lungs. On Christmas night he needed more air than he was getting so we went to the local hospital in Palmerston. He is still there, getting antibiotics intravenously and feasting on oxygen. He is making some improvement but won't be released until he can be successfully weaned from the oxygen. Hopefully in a day or so. He finds it difficult to get good sleep because he struggles with coughing when he's lying down, even though his head is well elevated.
I have a new appreciation for the nurses who work during holiday times without the extra staff support. They remain cheerful and patient. There are a few other patients we know and it is good to see familiar faces in the halls.
I suspect this will not be the last time he will need to be admitted and once again we have to rely on God's strength to see us through. As I heard in church this morning, our God is great and we must have confidence to depend on Him. We must relinquish the right to fix it ourselves and just rest in Him. That is my prayer for the days ahead.
Sunday 27 December 2015
Wednesday 9 December 2015
December post
It seems a while ago that I posted so I will bring you up to date with what has been happening in this journey.
We are just back from two days in London. The first day was the meeting with all the different departments at the hospital - routine but very helpful. The second day was part of the research study Jim is part of. Not so interesting for us, but hopefully helpful for future studies.
We are tweaking the feeding process in order to make it more comfortable for Jim. He has been experiencing nausea with his feeds and his digestive system doesn't always like the food. So we have a bunch of suggestions to try: smaller feeds more often, replace gravity bag more frequently, try a digestive aid, be more consistent with adding fibre or try night-time feeding. One of these or a combination of them will probably help. He has not been gaining weight since the tube was added but has not lost any either.
Another thing he will be trying is ankle-foot splints to give support to his weak ankles and hopefully prevent a fall. I was hoping we could come back without more stuff but this looks like a good addition too. Jim often recognizes how valuable the other equipment is for his well-being. He would be lost without his speech machine or his cough assist machine. How fortunate that we have so many resources available to us (and funding to cover it.)
Life has lots of fun things too. We returned from a Caribbean cruise on Saturday. It was great to get into the warmth and sunshine for a week. Travelling with my sister and husband was a godsend. Jim enjoyed the cruise and the activities but was unable to participate in the feasting part of the cruise. He stayed in the room for his feedings while we partook of way too much food. However, we rented a wheelchair for him on the boat, and took him on shore excursions and throughout the boat. Having a disability when travelling is not all bad - you tend to get to the front of the line, along with your travelling companions. A little perk!
Being south this time of the year makes it hard to focus on Christmas. Perhaps it will help us think about the real meaning of Christmas a bit more. Jesus came to a real and hurting world, offering peace and hope for the future. What better gift is there? We pray that all our friends and acquaintances will experience that in their lives too. Thank you for your support.
We are just back from two days in London. The first day was the meeting with all the different departments at the hospital - routine but very helpful. The second day was part of the research study Jim is part of. Not so interesting for us, but hopefully helpful for future studies.
We are tweaking the feeding process in order to make it more comfortable for Jim. He has been experiencing nausea with his feeds and his digestive system doesn't always like the food. So we have a bunch of suggestions to try: smaller feeds more often, replace gravity bag more frequently, try a digestive aid, be more consistent with adding fibre or try night-time feeding. One of these or a combination of them will probably help. He has not been gaining weight since the tube was added but has not lost any either.
Another thing he will be trying is ankle-foot splints to give support to his weak ankles and hopefully prevent a fall. I was hoping we could come back without more stuff but this looks like a good addition too. Jim often recognizes how valuable the other equipment is for his well-being. He would be lost without his speech machine or his cough assist machine. How fortunate that we have so many resources available to us (and funding to cover it.)
Life has lots of fun things too. We returned from a Caribbean cruise on Saturday. It was great to get into the warmth and sunshine for a week. Travelling with my sister and husband was a godsend. Jim enjoyed the cruise and the activities but was unable to participate in the feasting part of the cruise. He stayed in the room for his feedings while we partook of way too much food. However, we rented a wheelchair for him on the boat, and took him on shore excursions and throughout the boat. Having a disability when travelling is not all bad - you tend to get to the front of the line, along with your travelling companions. A little perk!
Being south this time of the year makes it hard to focus on Christmas. Perhaps it will help us think about the real meaning of Christmas a bit more. Jesus came to a real and hurting world, offering peace and hope for the future. What better gift is there? We pray that all our friends and acquaintances will experience that in their lives too. Thank you for your support.
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