wednesday night

i'm up doing cares and giving meds so between meds i thought i'd make this blogspot. i'm loving all the pictures on our friend eithene's new site, so i thought i'd keep myself awake copying their idea. :) updates here will read the same as her caringbridge site, they will just have more pictures. :)

melanie started feeling rough again after the meds worse off. she laid down around 5 and tried to sleep but could not. the neuropathy was worse than usual tonight for some reason. she didn't want anything, blankets or clothes or anything, touching her skin. finally, around 8, she was able to tolerate the blankets over her and she got snuggled up. she fell asleep around 9. she seems to be sleeping pretty well but is retaining some fluid and coughing a bit.

we went for a couple wagon rides today. we went downstairs to the fountain where she put he hands in the water. played in the playroom for a while. she spent some time on my "bed" (the couch in the room) for a change of scenery. we played with some animals from the playroom and all the fun gifts people have brought here. we got a couple visitors tonight which melanie enjoys. thanks for the visit, food, and adult conversation, capes! :) thanks for stopping up phyllis and for the fun card game and coloring book.

playing in the playroom

melanie's energy level is increasing. she is able to sit up alone for a while and even stood up shakily for a while today.

the pressure in her intestines goes up and down; sometimes meds are really hard to get in, other times not as bad. her meds are causing increasing pain though, so i'm having to give them in even smaller increments and spread them further apart--so it's taking most of the day to get all her meds in.




i guess the doctors hadn't read the ct report, so i brought to their attention the mention of mild enlargement of her liver and spleen. said they would mention it to gi. it isn't severe and probably not something we can do anything about, but it is a change. they said bacteremia doesn't typically cause an acute enlargement of liver and spleen, so it may be a chronic thing that has been happening over time. not sure.




melanie's ct scan



mommy and melanie at the ct scan

i am hoping maybe tomrrow morning before it gets too hot i'll be able to take melanie out to the courtyard. we haven't been outside since saturday, so i'm sure a little fresh air would feel good. melanie was getting a little antsy today; wasn't able to find a good distraction to get her mind off the pain. a trip outside might help. this afternoon they had a therapy dog visit which ended up being great timing. melanie was dealing with pain but at a level that the dog visit was exactly what she needed to help get her mind off it.

melanie with therapy dog "gretta"