Oh Happy Day!!!

So this is a happy happy day. Abby has moved to the 5th floor to the transplant floor. Wahoo no more ICU or IMCU. The best part of this is not as many monitors so less bugging Abby. It is a quiet room and a big room with a view of the valley. I saved the best for last... NO closing for shift change so visiting hours are open to whenever. That will be so nice. They also don't limit the number of visitors. So PLEASE visit Abby it really makes a big difference to her days. The days she has no visitors other than parents and siblings she is down and doesn't feel like doing much. But the days she has visitors she is the happy Abby we all know and love. The only thing we ask is NO SICK visitors Abby is immune suppressed so she can get sick very easily. Also they don't want kids in that unit either because of germs. So if you want to visit Abby please go ahead if you are healthy. She is at the U on the 5th floor I can't remember the room number. But just ask the nurses station on the 5th floor she is in the transplant unit part of that floor. Also some people have asked me if Abby can have flowers. They didn't allow them in the ICU or IMCU but they DO allow them in her new room so if you want to send flowers go ahead.

So Abby is doing a lot better she still has a lot of stomach pain from the pancreatitis but hopefully that is getting better. It is still leaking a bit but has slowed down. Her kidney numbers look great so that is a good sign and her liver numbers are perfect. She just needs to get stronger and heal up a little bit more. She also needs to eat more she doesn't have much of an appetite but she tries to eat. So today is a happy day and we hope for more happy days to come. We need her home! Thanks for all of the prayers and keep them coming her pancreas and kidney still need to get a bit better. And we need her to regain strength so she can come home.

Days 47 and 48

The last couple of days have been really good. Abby's numbers all have been great even her kidney numbers. We just need her to make a bit more urine and to get some of the fluid off of her body. That is what we are waiting for now. She is still not out of the woods, but she is much closer for sure. She still has quite a bit of pain but they are trying to manage that well for her. Courtney and I had a good visit with her last night we even laughed with her.

Today she is a little more down and quiet. So she could really use some visitors. She doesn't get many visitors these days and that would really help her spirits. She is out of the SICU and in the IMCU (Intermediate care unit) it is on the 2nd floor just follow the signs. You don't have to buzz into that unit but they still only allow 2 visitors at a time. She is directly across from the nurses station so just ask them what room. the only time visitors are not allowed is between 7 and 8:30 in the morning and at night for shift change. So any other time is fine. That would really help her a lot.

So where we stand now is we need her kidney to work a little better and we need for her to get stronger. She is still pretty weak and needs to get stronger so she can move up to the transplant floor. So keep the prayers coming, and lets hope and pray that she continues to make progress and doesn't have anymore complications.

Days 45 and 46

So emotions have been running high these last couple of days. We would be lying if we said we were all coping well. But none of us thought this journey would be this long. We have had more bumps in the road then we could have even imagined. The biggest of which has been the dang pancreas. The angry organ even the doctors say don't mess with the pancreas. Well it has been messed with and it hasn't been happy so it has caused some issues. Issues that are being dealt with, but have caused things to slow down a bit. The biggest worry lately has been the damage that the pancreas enzymes have caused. They have made her vessels week as well as her organs. She already had one bleed so they are watching her very closely just in case she has another. But she is doing well today.
So day 45 (Wednesday) not much happened Abby was just very weak and in a lot of pain. And we all felt a little defeated because we thought she would be moved to the transplant ward. But because of the recent bleed that was put off.
Day 46, today was a good day, not fun being in the hospital on a holiday but Abby had a pretty good day. She is now out of the ICU, not on the transplant floor yet but she is at least heading in the right direction. She is in the IMCU (intermediate care unit) So hopefully this means she will soon be on the transplant floor. Abby's labs were all good today. Her liver numbers are normal again and so is her pancreas numbers. Her Kidney numbers are better then they have been so that is good. She is still making urine as well so that is good. So as long as we can stay in this direction she will be 100% before we know it. I say this hoping not to jinx anything. We are starting to be afraid to be excited about progress because it seems like as soon as we are something bad happens. But I have faith that Abby is going to be okay. She seemed really good today she was teasing me and everything. Abby is such a strong girl and I know that she must be because she has been given this trial because she can handle it. Abby is a special spirit we have always known that, but know you can see it. We are so very thankful today for our Abby and we know everything is going to be alright.

Day 44.....

So today has been another scary day. Abby's drains that are draining the pancreatic fluid from her abdomen were filling with blood. Her blood pressure was bottoming out so they gave her blood but she was bleeding just as fast as they were giving her blood. So they took her in to the cath lab again to see what was going on in her vein's and arteries. They found a major leak in her splenic artery so they were able to fix it. I guess it was a pretty rare place to have an artery break like that. But luckily Abby had a great Dr who was able to get the job done. The worry is that the contrast they have to give her when they do that procedure can damage the kidney. And her kidney just started coming back so that is frustrating. But they can have her drink some very gross medicine that helps break down the contrast so it shouldn't damage her kidney. So for tonight Abby is just resting. Her heart rate is a little high and she is breathing very fast but she is in pain so that might be why.

We really hate all of these bumps in the road. We really thought she was getting much closer to coming home then this happened. It really feels like my heart is breaking every time something goes wrong. So I know it is killing my parents to watch Abby go through this. Our hope is that Abby and my parents can stay strong through this journey. It has been a tough one but I know Abby will be ok and we just need to get through this together as best as we can. So my prayer for tonight is that Abby and my parents will stay strong and hang in there. And that Abby will only have good news for the rest of this transplant journey. Thanks for all of the love, support and prayers on our family's behalf, we have great family and friends!

Another big bump in the road...

So Abby is now having internal bleeding today. They took her to angio to go in through her arteries to check all of her veins and arteries to see where she is bleeding. And to hopefully fix it. We need another miracle yet again. I hope and pray that the rest of my posts will be only positive. Please keep abby and my parent's in your prayers until she is home and healthy. We are all worried about my parent's right now they have been through the ringer and need angels on their side as well as Abby's.

Days 42 and 43

Ok so things are better, Day 42 (Sunday) was scary because Abby's liver numbers were elevated and they were having a hard time seeing her Hepatic artery on ultrasound. So they were thinking the worst a clot or the artery collapsing. They took her to the cath lab and found that the artery was narrowed a little bit but there was plenty of blood flow. So that is a major relief, her liver numbers are still a little elevated. But we really think it is from the pancreatitis that was caused from putting the stint in the pancreatic duct. Abby has had some pain but they are trying to control that. They are also limiting her protein and fat intake so they can give her pancreas a break so maybe the inflammation will go down. They also think the liver numbers may be because of a virus that will go away with time. They may go in and dilate her artery in a few weeks if it is still narrowed. But we think the swelling is causing the narrowing so it might get better on its own.
Today day 43 has been a good day for Abby she has had pain and been warn out. But no bad news today and things are looking up. The pancreatic drains are not getting as much fluid out anymore so that is good. She is still making urine and her strength is better from day to day. Abby is such a strong girl it just amazes us all. All of the doctors and nurses are amazed by her grace through all of this. She is so polite and nice and doesn't complain much. Even through the scary moments she doesn't panic and tells us she knows she is going to be okay.
We are hoping that Abby will be moved to the transplant floor either tomorrow or the next day as long as nothing happens. They would have moved her today but there wasn't an open bed. So thank you to all who pray and fast for Abby. We are thankful for all who are helping Abby fight right now. Abby has angels helping her on this side and the other side. So thank you! Abby is loved!

Pray hard please....

So the scare we had yesterday with the hepatic artery is a reality today. They did another ultrasound because her liver numbers jumped again. They couldn't see any flow in her hepatic artery. This is very bad because it could mean another transplant. So they are taking her to the cath lab to see if it is a clot or just collapsed. Hopefully whatever it is can be repaired easily. If it is a clot and it is caught within 24 hours they can get it out without too much damage. We just hope whatever it is can be fixed without surgery. So please pray hard. We love you all!

Day 41

So today was a little bit scary, Abby had a good night but her labs this morning were elevated. The labs that were elevated were the ones that show liver damage. All the numbers were quite a bit higher than they were the day before. So this really concerned the doctors. They thought that it could be a few things that were causing the numbers to be higher. One of which was a blood clot in the hepatic artery, a clog or leak in the bial duct or an infection. We were all worried and frustrated. But the thing that we were wondering about was that procedure she had yesterday. One doctor told me that her liver could just be reacting to being bothered a bit during the procedure. This seemed the most logical because of the timing of everything. So they had ultrasound come up to check blood flow. Two radiology techs came in and tried to find the areas of worry. They found everything flowing normally except they couldn't seem to see the hepatic artery. So they went and got the resident radiologist. She found some areas of the artery but not the whole thing. So they called in the Head radiologist to try. They needed to figure things out fast because if it was a blood clot it needed to be treated with in 24 hours. So they were calling in the Calvary's to figure it out. The radiologist came in and was able to find the arterial flow just fine. It was a little restricted but nothing to suggest a clot. The most likely cause is swelling of the pancreas from the procedure was probably putting pressure on the artery. Plus some of the enzymes a liver puts out when it is injured are the same as the pancreas. So the elevated numbers could have been from the pancreas.
So for now they will just watch her closely. But she is doing well her pain is under control and she seems at ease with everything that went on today. She is a strong girl I don't know if I could handle everything she has had to go through.
The best part of the day was spending 6 hours with Abby talking to her and watching movies. I love the fact that all of us siblings are so close we love to just talk to each other. Even before this trial we were all very close, we couldn't ask for a better family.

Day 40....

So today has been a very busy day for our Abby. She had a bigger tube put in for her drain in her abdomen. They also adjusted it a bit as well. Then at 3 she went in for a procedure to put a stint in her Pancreatic duct. They were also checking to see what was leaking and if it was the duct they would put the stint in. And it was the duct it had a pretty big tear in it. So that is why all of the digestive enzymes from her pancreas were filling up her abdomen. The procedure went well, they had to intibate her and keep her heavily sedated for it. But they didn't have to cut, they just went through her mouth and to the duct and placed the stint. They were able to extibate her right after she was done so that is good. And she woke up and was ok. She is in a bit of pain because the procedure took close to 3 hours and she was on her stomach the whole time. But we all feel really good about it. There can be some adverse reactions to having the stint like pancreatitis so we will pray that she won't have any of that. They will keep the stint in for 6 weeks and let the duct heal then they will take it out and assess her then to see if she still needs the stint or not. We all hope that this will solve a lot of her issues she is having now. They are still draining fluid off of her but that will stop accumulating now that the stint is in. The pancreatic fluid that is. Her kidney is not completely back yet but it is trying. She is still making urine so that is good. But her kidney numbers still aren't great but they are improving. So hopefully fixing the pancreas will help her kidney as well.

Abby also had to have dialysis today so she is wiped out tonight. Even though this pancreas thing has been a bad hiccup my mom had a good point today. A few weeks ago Abby's liver (the new one) had some dead cells that were needing to slough off. They were somewhat nervous about them causing infection if the body didn't get rid of it fast enough. Well because of the digestive enzyme leaking into her abdominal cavity it probably helped get rid of that. So miracles come in many forms and we will take them as they come. We are just thankful that she is ok and that she is continuing to get better everyday. Hang in there Abby this train will stop soon we promise. Then a new journey will begin, a happier one than ever before. Also I posted some pictures at the bottom of the blog of Abby's field trip to the lobby last Saturday.

Abby can have visitors now even though she is still in the SICU just only 2 at a time and short visits are about all she can do. Afternoon is usually her best time of day and not a whole lot going on then. She is on the 2nd floor in the surgical ICU follow the signs and after the 1st double doors you have to push the intercom to tell them who you are there to visit and then they will have you go back as long as no procedures are going on. And just ask the desk which room is hers. Thank you for all the prayers they are being answered.

Days 37, 38 and 39...

So Abby has been improving still she has had more good things than bad the last 3 days. Tuesday (day 37) She had more urine which is great just under 200cc and she had a lot of visitors so that makes her happy. She has been doing great during physical therapy she is determined to get strong so that makes us happy.

Wednesday was the wedding day and it was a good day for everybody. We all missed Abby that day but she had great friends and family to keep her company. Even a cousin stayed all night on Tuesday so my parents could sleep. And later on we found out this cousin has had some health problems of her own. (Nothing contagious of course) But she forgot about herself to help us what an angel she is. So thank you so much Joey and we hope she is feeling better. Abby's good friends stayed with her most of Wednesday too so thank you to them. Abby also had 500cc of urine output that day too. So that was a nice wedding present to Caleb. We were also blessed to have a live video chat during the reception. Josh our (brother) cousin I say that because he is technically a cousin but more like a brother. He set up skype so we could have her at the reception. It was very nice to have her there in some form. And she was able to talk to people and I think that was nice for some of the wedding guests who know and love Abby.

Day 39 (Thursday) Abby did well in PT again. She stood and marched in place, she is getting stronger everyday. Her blood pressure was good enough for them to be able to take off 2 liters of fluid off during dialysis so that is good. Her legs and abdomen are a lot less swollen now. The doctors are concerned that her pancreas is still leaking and the drains aren't working as well as they would like. So they have scheduled her to have a stint put in her pancreatic duct tomorrow. We are all a little nervous about this. She will have to be put under and be intibated again for the procedure. They will go through her mouth and down to the duct and place the stint. The doctors are first going to try and readjust the drains with bigger tubing to see if that will pull the fluid off to avoid the stint. But for now it is scheduled for 3:00 Friday afternoon. So please keep Abby in your prayers all day we are really nervous about her being under and intibated again. So hopefully the new drain will work and they won't have to do anything invasive. And on a positive note Abby had 350cc of urine output tonight. So her kidney is trying to get rid of fluid. That is a GREAT sign, we don't want to jinx things by saying it is back. Her labs still shows signs that is still not working completely but it is trying and we have complete faith that it will come back and soon. So sleep tight Abby Jean you are in good hands. We all love you so much!

Day 36......

So it seems Mondays are our days lately. The good things happen on Mondays. Yesterday was a discouraging day. The doctors kept changing their minds and driving us all crazy. They said they were going to put Abby back on continuous dialysis. So they tried to put a catheter in her neck to start the dialysis. But it kept clotting so they weren't able to start the dialysis. So they decided to not do continuous and start her on the hemodialysis today. So that made my mom a little less upset. So at about 2:00 A.M. I get a text from my dad saying she had 350cc of urine. Now Abby has had urine the past week but this is the most she has had. So the prayers worked, we all feel that there was some Divine intervention with the catheter clotting. So she had the hemodialysis today and did well they were able to pull off 2 liters of fluid off of her. And she had more urine today as well. So her Kidney is working! It isn't 100% yet but it is trying. Abby has about 40lb of fluid on her that is excess right now so the dialysis will help pull that off. And that should help her kidney as well. Right now she has way too much fluid to get off on her own. So tonight we are thankful for urine. I know that sounds gross but it is not, to us it is the most wonderful thing right now. Abby had a pretty good night. My dad's cousin Jeff came and sang to her he is more like an uncle to us and has always been Uncle Jeff. But he sang a few songs to her and when she told me about it she cried and said she loved it. So thanks Uncle Jeff you really lifted her spirits tonight. So I asked Abby what she wanted everybody to know and here is what she said.... "Thank you for all the love and support and especially the prayers. I am sorry I haven't been able to respond to peoples texts and comments. But I love you all and I am getting better. See you soon." So that is from Abby she really feels the love.

So Wednesday is going to be a rough day for Abby, Caleb is getting married and she is sad about not being there. She told be it hurts really bad knowing she is missing it. So to all her close friends and family she might need some short visits through out the day. She still is in the ICU so she can't have more than 2 people in the room at a time. So if you could just stop by and cheer her up that would be great. Usually we aren't having a whole lot of visitors because it is hard in the ICU and Abby really isn't up for visiting a whole bunch because she gets tired. But on this day we will make an exception. Please email me at ls.jess@hotmail.com if you want to visit her for a few minutes and I will give you the details. And like I said she can't visit long because she gets warn out but a few minutes would mean the world to her.

Prayer works keep them coming!

Day 33, 34 and part of day 35, the roller coaster continues...

So Friday and Saturday were pretty good days. On Friday day 33 Abby had another drain put in to help drain her abdomen. She also had dialysis again and she had her wound cleaned out a little bit. So it was an exhausting day. But she did well and the doctor's were optimistic about her moving to the transplant floor on Monday.
On Saturday day 34 it was a very good day. Abby had all of her lines out and they put her in a special bed/chair and wheeled her into the lobby. She was able to visit with the kids a little bit. That was very good she has not seen them in 5 weeks it was good for everybody.
Then that brings us to today Sunday day 35. Well we are discouraged, they told us all week that she would be moved to the transplant floor on Monday because she was doing so well. Then today they decided that the dialysis that they were doing which is 3 times a week was not pulling enough fluid off of her. So they are switching her back to continuous dialysis so that means she has to stay in the ICU. This does not make us happy and we are having a hard time staying positive. We really need her kidney to start working. She has had a little bit of urine but not enough. She needs to get all of her excess fluid off. So please keep the prayers coming. We really want her kidney to start working we need it to. We do not want her to have another transplant. So our hope is that they can get some fluid off of her and that her kidney will kick in. We just wish that the dialysis that is only 3 times a week would work for her. So just another set back in this long journey. We know that Abby will fight and make a full recovery we just wish it was happening a little faster. So keep the prayers coming Abby really needs to be comforted right now and so do the rest of us.

Days 30, 31 and 32

Abby is getting better! She still has a ways to go but she has been through a lot and she is making progress so we are thrilled. Tuesday was a slow day (day 30) They wanted her to have a relaxing day so they didn't do any big procedure or tests that day.
On Wednesday day 31 Abby had a big day. She started the day with dialysis and had to have her wound dressing changed as well. So she was tired most of the day. The doctors decided to start Abby on a new medication to help with her pancreas issues. They are trying to avoid surgery because they don't like to mess with the pancreas if they don't have to. The doctors said that the pancreas is an angry organ. So we are hoping that the medicine will help. They are also thinking that they will have to do more wound care as well just to avoid infection. This is a little painful for Abby but they are medicating her for all of the wound care to keep her comfortable.
On Thursday day 32 Abby had to have a CT they are just making sure the drain they put in to drain the pancreatic fluid is working. And to see if she needs another drain in a different area. They said that the drain is working well but there is a pocket of fluid lower down, so tomorrow they will put another drain in lower down. So hopefully they can make her more comfortable with that. Abby had more urine as well, her kidney still isn't working fully, but it is trying. But some urine is better than none. And the big news for today is they think that they will be moving Abby out of ICU.... YIPEE! She will probably go to IMCU which is intermediate care unit, for a few days. Then she will go up to the transplant floor. This means progress, and we are very happy about that. We still need Abby's pancreas to heal and for her kidney to fully work but she is getting better. So please keep the prayers coming, tonight I pray that this medicine will work. Good job Abby you are doing great, keep up the good fight.

Day 29... It's about time....

So as you all know we have been waiting and waiting and waiting for Abby's Kidney to work. The biggest sign that it is starting to work is it makes urine. Well today Abby had 250cc of urine. Now that is not a ton but the most she has had until now is 10-15cc so 250 is awesome! We are very happy about it. So her kidney might not be 100% back yet but it is trying and seeing some progress makes this journey a little easier. We hope it continues to make more and we know it will. Abby is doing so good, she is getting stronger each day. She is doing all she can to get better so we know she will.
Now of course we need her Kidney to continue to make urine and get better. She has a lot of excess fluid still mostly in her legs. So her kidney working would help her get rid of that. Her Pancreas really needs to heal as well. It is still leaking lipase. She has a drain that helps get rid of that fluid but they are thinking she might need another drain. They are also wondering if she might need surgery to repair her pancreas. But they really aren't sure what part of the pancreas is injured. So we don't know what the right decision is. I know that it really scares Abby to think about having surgery again. It scares us all so we don't know what she should do. But the surgery is minor and wouldn't take long at all. Nothing like a liver transplant. But we don't know that it is necessary either. So we just want more answers.
So today has been a good day. Signs of her kidney working and she did really good during PT. Miracles happen and our prayers have been answered. Now we need to pray for her Kidney to continue to work and for her Pancreas to heal. Once her Kidney and Pancreas are healed and working properly she should be able to come home. That would be awesome. So keep the prayers coming they are working!

Day 28......

So it has been exactly 4 weeks since the transplant. This past week Abby has made so much progress! Last Sunday we were all very frustrated because Abby seemed so sick and was asleep all the time. She wasn't responsive at all. But this whole week she has been pretty responsive. And today Abby was doing so well she was able to go outside. Yup that is right she went outside in a wheelchair with her nurse, my mom and Courtney. This seems insignificant but it means progress. Abby is 100% herself again she stayed awake all day, she used her computer and phone. She even was sarcastic with my mom and me today as well. Of course she still has a few hurdles to get over but she is so strong and ready to beat this whole thing. Her blood pressure is more stable so they are hoping to start the hemodialysis tomorrow. That is the one I have mentioned before that is only 3 times per week. It is a little harder on her then the continuous but it also works better and she doesn't have to be hooked up all of the time. So if she does well on it she can leave the ICU. That would be very good and we would be happy about that. But what would be even better if her Kidney and her Pancreas got better. We still have faith that her kidney will come back and same with her pancreas.
Abby is getting so strong she is doing very well with physical therapy and she even does more than she has to. So she is determined to get better so we know she will. She already has done so well and has come so far so we know she will make a full recovery with time.
Today our family is thankful for Abby and to have her around to talk to again. We finally have our light at the end of the tunnel. So Abby keep up the fight you are doing awesome. We love you and couldn't imagine life without you! And just so all of you know Abby read the blog today and also all of the comments you all have left. She really appreciates the love and support from all of her friends and family.

Days 26 and 27.... Welcome back Abby

So days 26 and 27 which were Friday and Saturday. So Abby has been more and more alert everyday. On Friday she was Abby did well she started eating regular food for dinner she had lasanga and green beans. She didn't eat a whole lot but it was good to have her be hungry and ask for food. She has been doing very well with Physical Therapy she knows she needs it to get stronger so she does well. Friday they decided to tap her belly because it had so much fluid in it they wanted to get some of it off so she would be more comfortable. They were hoping to get 3-4 liters but only ended up with a half a liter. The fluid was a little cloudy so they tested it to see if there was infection or dead cells.
On Saturday morning the results were in from the stomach tap, it showed that there was lipase. Lipase is a digestive enzyme that your pancreas makes and sends to your stomach to digest food. So basically something happened that made her pancreas leak the lipase into her abdominal cavity. The problem with that is it is a digestive enzyme so it was causing some cell death. We all are a little frustrated that they didn't catch this before now. Abby has been in a lot of pain and her Kidney hasn't been working. Now they are thinking the cause for a lot of Abby's problem might be because of this issue with her pancreas. We don't know if her pancreas was knicked during surgery or was just inflamed so the duct was not working. For now they have put a drain in to take the fluid off. This way they can also see if there is more fluid still leaking. Abby made the decision herself to have the drain put in. Abby wants them to do everything possible to make her better. It is good to see that fight in her.
So like I said before we are all a little frustrated that they didn't find this earlier. But at the same time we are glad some progress has been made in Abby's recovery. Her blood pressure has been better so they think they will be able to start the dialysis again tomorrow. She was having a hard time with the more intense dialysis that they do 3 times a week. Because it takes more volume out of her body and her bp kept dropping drastically. But in order for her to be moved out of ICU she can't be on the continuous dialysis so they are hoping that this will work.
Abby was more herself Saturday night then she has been this whole 4 weeks. Coutney was with her Saturday night and called me to say Abby was are true Abby tonight. She has had some lucid moments but would fade in and out. But Courtney said she was really with it. She doesn't have many memories from the last 4 weeks but now remembers the day of the Transplant. She is worried that we are mad at her for the decision she made. The night she got the call she prayed and the week prior had fasted about this decision. She felt that she was making the right decision and we all supported the decision she made. We also felt okay about it of course we were scared but we knew it had to be her decision. And no we aren't mad at her for the decision she made. It has been a scary long process. But who is to say things wouldn't have been worse if she would have decided to not get the transplant. Abby made her decision and she needs to look forward. She is getting better and now she will have a chance to live a full and happy life. I am so proud of her and am amazed by her strength. She is our miracle and even though it has been a hard 4 weeks we are all just glad she is still here and still her beautiful wonderful self.
So for now we will just have to see what her pancreas is doing then they can decide if something needs to be done. If it is still leaking they may have to put a stint in until the duct heals. Hopefully it is already healed and hopefully getting that fluid out her her will cause her to get better even faster. We love you Abby and are so very proud of you. Keep up the fight you will be home before you know it.

Days 24 and 25

So days 24 and 25 were pretty much good for Abby. She is still very awake and alert and she is following commands well. On day 24 which was Wednesday she really started to realize how long she has been at the hospital and how long she still has to be there. She asked her doctor how long until she was better and he said probably 4-6 weeks and her first response was "oh no I am going to miss Caleb's wedding." Then she was pretty sad the rest of the day this made us feel bad for her. She is starting to remember from day to day now which is a good sign. She is still a little confused but that is mostly from medications. She also is having nightmares so that is hard for us to watch.

Day 25 which was Thursday, she had an eventful day on Thursday. She got the big tube out of her nose it was the one they put down in case her stomach doesn't tolerate feedings. It would suck out anything that started to back up. She has tolerated feedings well so they took that out and now they have slowly started letting her eat. She still can't drink thin liquids they make her cough. So she is drinking thickened liquids and she has been eating crackers and pudding as well. She really just wants to drink water but they have to wait on that still. I was with her last night and she was a little confused but she was doing pretty well. She was really tired and fighting going to sleep. I think she doesn't like the nightmares so she tries not to fall asleep. now. They took her off of the continuous dialysis and are going to start the one that is a little more affective. It is harder on her though so they will try that today and hopefully she will tolerate it because it will take more excess fluid off of her. So we hope that goes well. We are still praying for her kidney to start working that would make us so HAPPY. So as today goes on I hope and pray that Abby is comfortable and that she will continue to make big steps towards getting better.

Day 23 post transplant....

So I am actually going to back track to day 22. First off my dad from the start of this roller coaster said day 22 she will turn around and be okay. His reason for that was that was the day things turned around drastically for Caleb when he was so sick. So Yesterday was day 22 it started out really rough so we were all a little discouraged. When I updated the blog yesterday about 7:30 not much had changed. She was waking up a little more but was still pretty much out of it and seemed like she wasn't feeling well at all. At about 9:45 last night I got a phone call from my mom. I heard commotion in the background and then my mom said hold on. All of a sudden I heard this really hoarse voice saying "Jessica can you bring my phone up, you don't have to bring it tonight, but maybe tomorrow" it was Abby. I was speechless I just said of course I will bring it up. Then she went on to say that she wanted to be able to get a hold of people and be able to let work know what was going on and she wanted to pay her bills. I was so happy to get that phone call. It showed my Abby's true personality. She wanted her phone and anyone who knows Abby knows she NEEDS her phone. After the weekend we had that was just the thing we needed to lift our spirits. So day 22 was our day after all.
So for day 23 we were very optimistic and the day did not disappoint. Abby was alert today she still is a little sleepy and out of it some of the time. But when she is awake she follows commands and talks to us and answers our questions. She is still very confused about what happened and right now that is a blessing because we didn't want her to remember the last 3 weeks. Her pain is being controlled now which is good. So she is a little loopy because of the pain meds but she is a lot more with it then she has been. We think the pain was making her shut down so she is better on the pain meds and we want her to be comfortable. Courtney and I were visiting her today and she talked to us quite a bit. She was pretty with it when she was awake, she asked me questions and she answered the questions I had for her. She still has a lot of questions about what happened to her. She asks a lot of questions about the transplant. When she starts getting really sleepy and falling asleep she says really funny things which is mostly from the pain meds. So we had a few good laughs. And we have seen Abby's sense of humor as well. The nurses were flipping her over to her other side and told Abby "you are doing so good" and Abby's response was "I guess that depends on where you are." She made the nurses laugh, it is so good to see her acting like Abby.
Her kidney still isn't working but now that she is more alert and doing much better the doctors are even more optimistic about it. She was tolerating feedings a lot better today which is a good sign as well. So today we are very happy and we hope things continue to get better. She isn't completely out of the woods yet but she is getting much much closer. We hope and pray that she continues to make progress and that she will stay alert and with us. We love talking to her again and want that to be possible for ever. Today we feel that we have our Abby back and just hope it stays that way.

Days 20 21 and 22

Sorry for the lack of posts since Saturday morning. Abby had a tough weekend and it was a little emotionally draining for all of us. My parents needed us up at the hospital a little more than usual more for moral support and to give them a little break.
So day 20 which was Saturday Abby had to have a tube put down her nose into her stomach just in case she couldn't tolerate feedings so it would suck up anything that started to come up. That made Abby very upset the tube is huge and hard and it hurt her. She cried the whole time they were doing it. Then she kind of checked out she zoned out and wasn't responsive and when she would wake up she would cry. This was very hard for my parents to watch. Abby is still very shaky she just shakes all the time it is very hard to watch.
Day 21 which was Sunday Abby wasn't very responsive most of the day she wouldn't wake up to pain or anything. This was a little worrisome for us but we decided that Abby didn't want to be awake so she wasn't. I could tell by my mom's voice on the phone that she was having a hard day. So we made sure to visit that night and I brought my kids up in their Halloween costumes. Courtney's kids were sick so she couldn't come. But Caleb came too and I could tell that my mom really needed her kids at that moment. Especially during shift change when they kick her out of Abby's room she really needs that distraction. So I am glad we could be there for her and I am glad we have such a close family that when someone needs us we are there. That is how we were raised and that is how we will continue to be. As siblings we are so close it is a bond that cannot be broken and we are all very close with my parents. Especially Caleb with my mom they are very close and right now my mom is using Caleb as her reason to look towards the future. Caleb was very sick 20 years ago and now he is ok. I can tell that it really helps my mom to have him around right now and I hope he knows how much that means to us all. And Abby knows he is there as well. We can't do much for her right now but we can be there.
Day 22 started out very rough in the early morning hours Abby was in a lot of pain and was screaming and saying things out of frustration. It was so hard for my dad to watch he could barely talk to me about it. I really hate when Abby is in pain and suffering. We all hate it, she really wanted my mom which puts a big burden on my mom. Once my mom got there my mom told her she loved her and Abby just kept saying "I love you, I love you." My mom told her that she would sleep there and Abby said " OK OK OK." We are all glad that she is starting to respond and talk but we hate that she is frustrated and uncomfortable. They finally gave her some pain meds and she seemed to rest a little better. She had a fever so they started antibiotics again and did a CT which we don't have the results for yet. They were also going to do a LP (spinal tap) some time tonight. We just want Abby to heal and be comfortable. Her kidney still isn't working and she isn't tolerating feedings very well. So we need those things to start working and we will be happy. So our prayer today is that Abby will be is less pain and less frustrated and that her kidney will work soon. Thanks for all the prayers for our Abby and keep them coming she needs those blessings.