Sunday, June 6, 2010 at 1300

Hi Everybody,
David had a good night. He rested really well but had a rough morning. Too much was in his stomach and it came out very quick when he threw up, wonderfully, the nurse was there with a towel in place when it happened and it all cleaned up quickly without getting on David.
Sometimes it is touch to get the feeding tube in the exact right spot. They want the tube to be feeding the small intestine, just for now, so the food does not sit in his stomach. The tube was "almost" exactly where it needed to be about 10 PM last night and, because the end of the tube is weighted, it was thought that it would enter his small intestine without any problem. Well, it didn't, it wrapped back into the stomach and that is why he threw up.
He is right now having his whole body CAT scanned to make sure everything is good. Even though they feel there is no blockage, they are checking to make sure. They want to make sure that scar tissue from his abdomen surgery is not impeding the system. They want to make sure the blood clot in his neck is doing OK. They've just decided to use this time to make sure all is good.
Orthopedics came in today and looked at his legs again. His left leg is healing very good and they have taken off the wound vac. In case you don't remember, the wound vacs put a suction on the wounds that help the draining process as well as pull the wound together to enhance the healing process. The right leg is still on a wound vac because the skin graft has not been done yet. I guess that could happen tomorrow but I haven't heard what is planned for tomorrow - just surgery.
The hand surgeon is extremely pleased with the way the skin flap is doing. To think of the little veins he is working on for 5 hours (sometimes 8 to 10 hours) at a time is just amazing. This guy is great. When he is smiling you know he feels like the skin is going to live and provide the role for which it was moved. David will need a skin graft on his forearm now but that is a small sacrifice to pay for a usable hand. I guess it's lucky he didn't have a tattoo on his forearm, I'm not sure how that would look wrapped around the wrist and in the palm. The surgeon told us that, if this would have happened 10 years ago, David would not have his right arm. Of course, we all know, that if it would have happened 10 years ago we probably wouldn't have David at all.
David's kidneys are rebounding very very well. His white count is coming down and everything is looking like it's returning to normal. I am very serious when I say what a tender mercy that is from our Heavenly Father - I know, without a doubt, that was an answer to a very specific prayer. For some reason, my heart just ached when I thought that David might need dialysis for the rest of his life.
I'll let you know more as we know more.
Pictures are coming. This computer is very secure and I can't download to it, so, I have to give my camera to Catherine so she can download the pictures to her computer so she can email them to me so I can email them to Tiffany so she can put them on the blog. I think my English teacher would have flunked me for that last sentence.

I wish some of you that have code names on the blog would let me know who you are and how we can email you as David gets more in touch with each day. I know he will want to communicate with you and thank you, personally, for your support, love, and prayers. My email address is noylnodrog@msn.com.

As Always, Thank You and I Love You,

Gordon