Sunday Afternoon

This afternoon, Mom and I went to the solarium. It was quite an adventure trying to maneuver the wheelchair and the IV pole. I did not do such a good job but Mom and I made it to the 6th floor without any major catastrophe. The solarium is a lovely garden on the floor of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We somehow managed to get out and sat in the sun for an hour listening to poetry being read on a CD. Mom got up and walked around the patio and looked at the daffodils and tulips and topiaries. It was so warm and there was a nice breeze. I think Mom got a little sunburned on her left cheek (oops!). We had a little trouble getting the wheelchair through the door on the way out so Mom walked to the elevators. On the way we saw a newborn baby.

We walked back to the room and Mom ate a little chicken broth and had a bite of orange italian ice. A resident doctor came in to examine Mom's incision and decided that it was infected. She did a procedure where she removed several staples and irrigated the wound. She tried to remove the infected areas and clean it out. They filled the wound with gauze soaked in saline. Pray that the antibiotics will work quickly and the infection will be quickly cleared out. Now that the wound is open, Mom will have to have her dressing changed several times a day which will be quite uncomfortable as they are trying to draw the infection out.

Mom has started taking pain medication by mouth and is getting used to the new effects of these drugs. She is resting now. Stephen just arrived. Elizabeth visited briefly this morning.