Highlight: Joseph had a great lunch. He ate half a cup of grapes, 3 oz of peas (one by one), 2 oz of carrots, half a small roasted potato and 4 oz of milk. It was a delight to me to have him eat up sitting on my knee.
—–
This morning started off fitfully, with Joseph dozing and waking needed a tummy rub for the cramps. When he woke up fully it was time for oral medications and he was not interested in taking anything by mouth. There was a bit of a struggle but we got the oral medicines in. Then I asked if we could repeat the procedure we did yesterday where we numbed the inside of his mouth to make it easier for him to eat. That was painful, especially on the lip that was so cracked and dried. After that procedure he got some general pain relief and fell asleep on my knee for 2 hours.
When Joseph woke up the doctor was making the rounds and popped in to talk about how Joseph was doing. He was really pleased with the progress so far and commented that Joseph was looking much better all around. There were no new infection indicator numbers as that test was not run last night. A listen in to Josephs tummy confirmed that there was a lot of action going on but still nothing coming out. However, Joseph’s level of distress and pain has dropped DRAMATICALLY today.
After his morning nap I offered Joseph some grapes and he did not want them. However after awhile he pointed to them and had me cut a grape in half and then place it back in the cup for him to fish out. That one went down well so we did the same game for the next 25 grapes. Him picking out a grape, my slicing it in half and placing back in the cup and then him fishing it out of the cup and eating it. There was a lunch meal in for him but he was not interested. One was brought to me as well and I began to eat it with him on my knee. Soon he was reaching for green peas on my plate, then potato then the carrots. By the end of the meal he had eaten half my plate and I was absolutely delighted. After topping it all off with a big drink of milk he was ready to lie down for a nap in his bed.
Joseph is sleeping now and seems to be resting —- Well he was resting when I started this sentence. It was time for oral medicines and another painful cleaning of his sore mouth. It was all very distressing for him. Then when it was time to take blood samples it was found that on the one place on his line that they could take blood samples was not working any longer. Now, he will have to have a needle stick every twelve hours for the next several days. Pour man that access line was so useful.
Prayer Request: That the times that a needle stick is needed will go well, finding wee veins quickly and surely.
He is now sleeping again.
The bowel situation has not changed – so we are waiting. However, his level of pain and distress has decreased a lot from yesterday. There is a lot of activity in his tummy so we hope for a good result soon for him.
Thankful Joseph got some relief. Praying for you all. How are Kate & Ezra?