Lung Update #16 - Fever, Fever, Go Away

Jeremy is now resting again after his mean old wife made him get up and walk and play a mini round of Trivial Pursuit. Here is where we are tonight after a fairly slow day. Jeremy was not in the best of demeanor this morning - he did not have much fight in him to push for any type of success and he also seemed to just "be there" not to truly be engaged in any activity or conversation. Now Nurse Jodi has her own theories, and the doctors actually agree with me. Jeremy was horribly lethargic this morning, but there are many things that can contribute to that. He is on 3 different antibiotics and 2 different antifungals that infuse into his body most likely 23 of the 24 hours a day. The nurses come in and awaken him for vitals throughout the night. When he does eat, it tends to come up and the self-management of the hiccups are wearing him out. Now, we use our common sense to see that he has not engulfed a FULL meal in probably 7 days. His 1/2 sandwich he ate last Sunday night was the last true meal he has eaten. Since the surgery, every meal he has eaten has eventually returned. So he is not getting any nutrients, protein or carb, and his body is not able to burn calories by exercise and exertion if there are no calories to burn. He is also not getting up enough and moving about, so the eventual repositioning of the lungs and diaphragm is not adjusting quickly and therefore, his entire body is not readjusting to activity. He was complaining of a "charlie horse" feeling in his upper thigh, so they took him this morning and performed an ultrasound. No blood clot. The pain is simply because his leg is still adjusting to usage again. The doctors see all of this and also want him to continue to push.

He had a fever last night and we really need him to be fever free tonight. They will not pull the chest tube until he has been fever free for 24 hours. Dr. Kemp spoke of repositioning a tube tomorrow and MAYBE pulling the other tube. This is just a "maybe". We need it to be a "yes". I feel that the removal of just one tube will be somewhat of a relief for Jeremy and will help continue to "jump start" his push forward. So pray for NO FEVER tonight. NO FEVER! I am going to get him up again and make him walk in about an hour. Pray for that encounter. He was mad at me at first, earlier, and then he tried to out do me - he walked an extra lap. See! It's in there - the Jeremy Powell we know. I just have to awaken the beast.

As for the hiccups, we are continuing to just manage them. We have had fewer bouts with them today. The combination of them along with all the medicine sometimes provokes the nausea. As of right now, he has eaten quite a bit of food and has kept it down for several hours. KEEP PRAYING FOR THAT AS WELL. He needs something on his stomach to absorb the medicine.

Tomorrow morning they are going to do a CT scan again. They will do thoracic and abdomen because he had an elevation in numbers that leads them to think he might have pancreatitis. The fear of this is less likely since he has kept down some fatty foods for the past few hours; however, they are going to look at the pancreas & liver tomorrow, just the same. Pray for no other hitches as we just try to manage the one's we currently have.

Thank you to those of you who have called and emailed today words of encouragement, advice, and support. We are missing you all so much and looking forward to reuniting with you soon. Thank you to Mrs. Brenda, for reminding me that tomorrow will come - it might not be "tomorrow", but it will come. How I know your road that you have walked surpasses our experience and I hope you know that God is giddy with how you continue to use your story to inspire and encourage other's in their faith. I am very OK with slow and steady, I just need to make sure we are doing all we can. Idleness can cause infection to roost as well and I don't want Satan to have any hold on this. Thank you to all who let me know how my babies were today and for loving on them so much as we are away. Thank you to those of you who have saturated our home with protective eyes and also saturated our home with a face lift. I know my girls will be eager to play at home very soon. Thank you for praying, for reading the blog and the emails, for taking time to understand our journey, for sharing your journey that inspires us, and for taking such good care of us. We rejoice with First Baptist Hayden as they welcome yet another spiritual strength to their leadership by the calling of Richard and Suzy Metts. Pray for Richard and Suzy as they break ties with their home church and the emotional encounter that will bring. Pray for them as they prepare to move and adjust. Pray for all decisions they must make in terms of that transition. Pray for our church as we continue to MOVE FORWARD and seek to strengthen the kingdom. We are so excited about what God is going to do this summer and in the seasons to come. Be prayerful about what your role is in our upcoming activities - because if you think you don't have a role, you do. So find your work boots and your hard hat and get ready. We are going to work for the Lord, dear friends and we are ecstatic about what He is going to do through our efforts. Be willing, because HE IS. Oh, and if you aren't a member of FBCH, you are still a worker. Find your hammer and tape measurer and practice. Here we go.