October 21

The last two days have been a little tough on the Jude Meister. I am not sure if I mentioned in an earlier post that Judy had part of her bladder removed. This removal required moving one of Judy's ureter tubes (tube running from kidney to bladder) to be relocated to another area of the bladder. About 3 days after surgery, the doctors were aware there was a leak occurring at the spot where one ureter had been sewn to the bladder; therefore, a nephrostomy was used to take urine away from the ureter before reaching the leaky area on the bladder. There is still fluid leaking into the abdominal area. The fluid is being siphoned off via an abdominal drain. Yesterday, the fluid was leaking out of Judy's body where the drain tube exits her body. The pads on her bed were soaked with the fluid. When Judy was moved to a standing position, the fluids came out at a rate that caused a pool to form at her feet. On top of this occurrence, Judy's temperature was somewhat elevated (Above 38 degrees C). The surgeons checked her out and informed us that the increased amount of fluid leaking out was not a cause for alarm. Healing the leak in the bladder is just going to take time. There is no need to go back in to repair the leak. The leak will heal. In other news: 1. The staples were removed from the incision on her belly. 2. Judy is no longer on oxygen. 3. The IV tube that was in her neck has been removed. She now has a pic line in her arm for IV fluids. 4. Nausea was still a concern yesterday, but as predicted, the moving of the intestinal tract has reduced the nausea. Although Judy still has her NG tube, it was capped off today and there was no throwing up. Tomorrow, Judy may even have a taste of the jolliest food of all, Jello. 5. Judy is still very weak. She hasn't been walking. She is in a standing position long enough to place dry pads on the mattress surface. 6. Judy's sister, Audrey usually visits Judy in the morning. She reports to me about how Judy is progressing and when Judy is going to rest. I usually visit in the afternoon and the girls and/or I visit in the evening. We all try to perform personal care that is within our ability. 7. The road to recovery after this last surgery is a long one with the usual potholes along the way. We all need to realize that Diamond Judy has been through more in the last 5 months than most people experience in a life time. And that long road won't be covered in giant steps. It's going to be baby steps. Eventually, the hoses, drains, pics, ports,staples, tubes, bags, and other paraphernalia will be removed and the Queen will return to the castle where Cinderella dutifully VIMS the Royal Sink.