Day Three

My mother and sister spent the night with me in the Madison Inn last night; this morning we grabbed a quick muffin and cup of coffee in the hotel, then walked over to visit Lois. She had the usual night in the hospital with aides, nurses, phones, lights, hall conversation and the sounds of sick people puking and stuff keeping her awake. She said she had a hard time getting to sleep (duh?) so she called for a sleep aid about 12:30 and after it arrived 45 minutes later she finally slept good for about 3 or 4 hours, then catnapped until the morning sun came streaming through her window.

She's been hostessing all day: my mom and sister were here until about noon; then Lois' sister Sandi and her husband Dave and Boots (their mom) arrived about an hour later; Bob F., Lois' cousin Skeets' husband came in for a while, then he and Skeets came back about 5; Danni G and her husband Dennis came in the afternoon. Danni was our realtor in Richland and also a KHS grad, only a couple years behind us. She had a double mastectomy last December and is scheduled for the same type of reconstructive surgery as Lois in a few months. We wish her well in her journey and will keep close contact.

Presently it is 6 pm, Lois is on the phone with her aunt Pauline, who lives here in Spokane; I'm working on her blog, and getting hungry. Though Lois didn't sleep really well last night she's been mentally sharp all day and in hardly any pain at all. They got her up once and she sat in a recliner for about 45 minutes. Her drain tubes are all working and the nurse said she isn't draining nearly as much as some people do. It sounded like a good thing to me. Her "new" boobs are maintaining a fairly constant temperature (102 degrees-as the doctor prescribed)and that is a good thing! They have her do this by simply laying a light blanket across her chest. Her blood pressure is good, her fluids are fluidly moving right along as they should and she gets to begin eating soft foods tomorrow: toast, popsickles, jello. Today she had popsickles and broth for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Tomorrow they remove the catheter and get her up a few more times. She's not really looking forward to getting up though, because her stomach is really tender.

Not much else to include right now. She wants me to take a few pictures of a couple of her nurses, so I'll take those and post them tomorrow.

Thanks for the comments! We love getting them.