Phone Calls and Clergy....

the last few days have brought some nice progress with my mom.  my dad and i were to the hospital early today.  as always, my mother was glad to see us.  she is definitely getting her spunk back (a little).  she was awake most of the morning and fairly chatty about the nurses and general level of care.  

chris, my dad and i were there for the morning rounds.  the doctor had only good things to say about her on his rounds.  as of tonight (wed), she is beginning her final 24 hours of the chemotherapy drug.  her white blood cells are very close to where they need to be and they keep managing the other aspects of her blood as needed (i think she got some platelets today). she also is starting to get rid of some of the fluid she has retained.  she has described her hands as those of the pillsbury dough boy.  following a couple of very tough days, she is falling in line with other "typical" patients on the bone marrow ward.  so much so, that they are moving her back to a regular room on the ward.  i think she will miss the view of the nurses station and all the activity.  she's also going to miss the fancy bed that they give to ICU patients.  

she also started eating a little today.  she has been on IV nourishment through the dialysis and other complications, but she said "tomorrow, i think i'll start eating more".  she hasn't really wanted to eat much up until now.  another good sign.

she did have a visit from our senior pastor today.  i wasn't there, but she was happy to see a new face.  she also was visited by the rabbi at the hospital.  rabbi "elena" and my mom got to be chums during last year's hospital stay. combined with a call from pastor dave late in the day, she had a nice triple shot of "professional" spirituality.  tomorrow, maybe a priest, a presbyterian and a baptist. (this is starting to sound like a bad joke).

tonight, instead of her usual reminder to my father to call her sister, she suggested that they both call her in the morning... 

i just stopped typing because i had to answer the phone...it was my mom.  she called to see how rusty, her dog, was doing with us.  after a brief conversation with maggie, she said her goodnights to my dad.

....as i was saying, she is planning on calling my aunt irma in the morning.  when i was a kid, there was nobody, and i mean NOBODY, that could talk on the phone longer than my mother.  perhaps a new age of phone talking is at (dough boy) hand.  with at least 3 more weeks in the hospital, everyone may get a call (or 10). i wonder if they have cordless patient phones....

on these days, the posts are easier to write.  good things always are.

please keep the thoughts and prayers coming.  there is no doubt in my mind that they are working.  

many blessings,

tim