Daley Ponderings

Grace did well her first night. I had a harder time because it was like having a young baby - changing diapers in the night; she did go on the potty. Jon and the older girls dropped Grace and me off at the clinic on their way home. Grace was not happy to be stuck in a clinic room. First... (More)

The kids who have been admitted for any length of time look longingly at the airlock doors that leave the hallway they are not allowed to leave.  So, when discharge day comes, it is a pretty exciting time. For those of you who are confused - yes this was published out of order since... (More)

We've probably said it before, and anyone who has been in a hospital for any length of time knows that any time someone says "soon" that means 2-10 hours, and "tomorrow" means 1-3 days, etc.  So, even though I posted here that it could be Friday, I've been telling myself Monday, though as... (More)

The doctors started talking about discharge last Friday and that continued on Monday.  They decided to turn off the continuous morphine and moving more of her medicines to her NG tube. I was pretty skeptical that she was going to tolerate only on occasional morphine and I expected her to... (More)

We've had some full days since our last post, so I'll try to catch you all up. On Friday night, Jon and the girls went to Camp Maranatha for the annual father-daughter retreat and the boys went to Boston to stay in the apartment. We went to Target to get some maternity shirts for Heather... (More)

Grace has been steadily improving.  She is not throwing up as much, she's had a few messy diapers that look more normal than she's had in months, or even ever. She had an ultrasound which she slept right through.    Her drain has not been putting out much, so... (More)

Grace had a great day today, despite staying up until after midnight (I went to sleep, but I asked the nurse in the morning, and she stayed up reading her new book and trying to not let the nurses check her oxygen levels since that would involve taking away her light...) She came to rounds in... (More)

We have lots of good news to report. Grace has been improving the last couple of days.  Her abdomen measured 53.5 cm, the smallest it has been in weeks.  They have changed her cyclosporin from IV to NG (nasogastric) which is a step towards getting ready to be discharged.  The... (More)

Our family will be in Boston next weekend (after the father-daughter retreat at Maranatha) and we are wondering if there is anyone who would be willing to spend some time at the hospital so our whole family (minus Grace) can go out to Boda Borg and the same  sushi buffet  that some... (More)

The last several days have been back and forth. I’ve started several posts in my head, and then they end up changing. The weekend doctors cancelled the stool studies, then the attending on Monday re-ordered them. Jon had some very frustrating conversations with the doctor, but an... (More)

Once again, it was good for me to visit home. This time, I brought Joy back with me. We left later than I meant to, for various reasons (one being the second batch of Victory tshirts came in!) so we had a bit more traffic in Boston than I have yet driven in. It was stressful for Joy, I think,... (More)

Grace had a great day today. She went out for a walk, wasn't even too upset when Heather left for Hillsboro, waved at everyone as we walked down the hallway.  (She was especially adorable today because she brought a toy vacuum cleaner instead of her normal shopping cart, which is useful for... (More)

Jon wrote today: When I said it was a "bad day" the other day, a nurse corrected me and said "good moments and bad moments". This morning was good and she played in the playroom for quite a while. She did throw up after eating. But has continued to ask for food, and hasn't... (More)

Grace had a fever overnight so Saturday morning they gave her Tylenol. She seemed a bit better, happier. She even gave me some smiles. She did not throw up all day. I suspect morphine as a cause, and I avoided pushing the button. The Tylenol seems to help enough, so I asked the... (More)

I walked home late Monday night, because there was supposed to be this big snowstorm. Jeremiah was already asleep, sprawled all over the bed. In the morning, it was only raining Jeremiah and I had leftover pizza for breakfast, and we walked to the hospital in the rain. The nurses and child... (More)