No Hospital! Woohoo!

The good news is that my mom is at home tonight - so thankful to not be in the hospital. It was confirmed today that she does have a bacterial infection that was most likely caused by strong antibiotics. She is now on a specific antibiotic to treat the infection, and we hope the infection will be knocked out soon!

Thanks so much for all of the support - the cards and calls have been wonderful. At this time, my mom is still not feeling up to having visitors. We are hoping to see her turn a corner here pretty soon and start feeling better. She is a trooper!!

Update

This is Kasey tonight, updating with some new information about my mom's progress. Thanks for your prayers thus far in this journey - we're asking for a few more!

It seems like her incision has been healing properly since she came home from the hospital. Her check-up appointment with the surgeon went well last Wednesday. He told my mom to expect 3-4 months before she feels completely back to normal, but that he feels good about her progress.

However, the pain in her abdomen has increased over the past week. Her doctor had her come in yesterday for some lab work. The results today showed many positives, including normal albumin level and protein levels back up (Way to go mom for eating lots of protein!) But she also has a high white blood cell count, indicating that she may have a secondary infection in her abdomen that was probably caused by one of the antibiotics she has been taking. She is at home tonight and has started taking medication for the infection. She also had an x-ray done to eliminate the possibility that this is a bowel leak/peritonitis again. He is also concerned about dehydration. A few more tests are being done, and we (especially my mom) are all sure hoping that this doesn't lead to another hospital stay.

So, there has been a slight setback in her recovery, but we feel good about the plan. And once again, thankful for great care from doctors.

Thanks for your prayers,
Kasey (for the Wilson clan)

Home is a Good Place to Be!

Sorry it has been several days since my last entry. After Mom left the hospital, I came back to be with my own kids here in Abilene. It had been almost 3 weeks since I had been with my one year old, J.D., so it was nice to see him and love on him again. Life with a one year old and a three year old doesn't ever slow down, so it has taken me until now to sit down and write a new post.

Mom has done very well at home. She was so happy to be able to sleep in her own house and wear her own clothes. She looked like a new woman when she got to change from her hospital gown into a t-shirt! They have taken all of the dressings off of her incisions, and those seem to be healing well. She continues to have some swelling in her feet and legs, but the doctors told us that would take a while to completely go back to normal.

It is amazing the crazy past few weeks her body has experienced! The doctors told her it is going to be a long process for her to fully recover. It has been great to see the progress she has already been making. We were able to talk with her on Skype the past couple of nights and she has looked better and better each time we have seen her on the computer screen.

We continue to praise God for taking care of all of us over the past 3 weeks. Thank you all for caring so much about our family.

I got to sit down and talk with Jim tonight and tell him all the lessons I feel like I learned over the past several weeks. It took a long time to tell him everything! I hate the fact that Mom had to endure such pain and illness over her time in the hospital, but I am thankful that I am changed (and my family is changed) for the better because of the experience.

Kelly