Assorted Reflections

The new medicine that Krista is on has really helped (not to mention the extra platelet transfusions she's received). The blood clots are nearly gone now, and her bleeding has greatly slowed. She's really weak endurance-wise from the experience, but her muscle-strength is still good and she has been able to get up a bit today. The platelet count was still too low (13,000 this morning), but she did get a HLA-matched transfusion from the Red Cross this evening that brought her up to 43,000. Her white blood count was at an incredible 7.3 today (normal range is between 4 and 10), so I think they expect the platelet production to start to pick up soon.

My mother and father came to visit today, and they and Janelle and I all recounted stories to Krista about some of the things she didn't remember from the liver-failure incident. Some of them were quite funny, like the time she insisted on keeping her glasses on so she could see clearly, even though her eyes were shut! It was good to see my folks, especially my dad, since he is going in for surgery on Wednesday. Dad's a bit anxious about the procedure. I would ask all you praying people out there to pray for him to have peace about how it will go, for a safe, successful procedure, and for a speedy recovery. Mom's going to be taking care of him at home for a while after the procedure, so we're not sure how long it will be until we can see them again.

My folks were kind enough to take care of my laundry this afternoon, too. While they were gone, Krista asked to watch a video that Erica had given us, Thou Shalt Laugh, which is a concert of stand-up comedy acts by Christian comedians. We got some good laughs from it, but when we paused it for one of the endless nurse interruptions, Krista, Janelle, and I all fell asleep! I guess we all needed a nap.

I forgot to mention the other day that Krista's mouth sores have improved quite a bit. She graduated from the "pureed foods" menu to the "mechanical soft" menu yesterday. The meals on that menu are closer to normal foods, so she's been able to eat scrambled eggs, diced potatoes, clam chowder, chicken salad, canned fruits, etc. The added variety is a welcomed change!

As quiet as it was in our room today, the rest of the transplant wing was quite the opposite. This morning we had a hard time getting to see nurses and doctors because one of the patients here became critical. Krista has such a heart for people going through those difficult times, and she prayed earnestly for this one. Afterward, she told me that this was why God wanted her to stay here this weekend, so that she could pray for another in trouble.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
(2 Corinthians 1:3-5)