A Good Day

We're home from the hospital and thankful for a very smooth, peaceful day. Elizabeth was a champ and came through the procedures beautifully. They found 3 more "cherry red spots" (spots that are at high risk of bleeding) and out of the 5 varices she has running down her esophagus, they sclarosed 3 of them. We'll need to go back for another endoscopy on March 2. We'll be on this schedule of looking every 4-6 weeks until they get the upper hand and the body creates different collateral veins that are more stable, or in the case that she has a major bleed and we need to evaluate other treatment options. (liver transplant) Given the options, we'll take the first.

 

Since they had to inject the varices, she was at higher risk of bleeding, so they kept her for observation until 4 this afternoon. I was able to drop Ruby off at our friend Kristin's home and she had a marvelous time playing with her friend Sophie. The afternoon in the hospital was absolutely peaceful (despite the fact that it was FREEZING outside (5 degrees when we were driving to the hospital!). Matt was able to return to work and Elizabeth watched all the Sesame Street and Signing Times she could get her hands on, ate right off the hospital menu (a first for her!!) and was her delightful self (as we were leaving, she turned to our nurse and said, "Thank you for Lunch!") We saw many of our nurse friends and they marveled at how big and smart Elizabeth has gotten over the last year.

 

When we got home, Matt had to run back to work, so I set the girls up on the couch with an animal video and set to making dinner. When the video stopped, Elizabeth hopped off the couch and announced, "I had a great day!" Amazingly, it's true. Despite the pain of getting the IV, the discomfort of not being able to eat or drink until 1pm, and the stress of another hospital visit, our Peanut was thankful for Dairy Queen ice cream, her favorite videos, a morning with her daddy and oatmeal for dinner. All of our prayers were answered and I for one am amazed at how kind God is to give us such grace for what could have been a really stressful day. (Thank you again Kristen and Sophia) 

 

These days, we are certainly learning a lot about what a "good day" really looks like.