Carrie and I have had a wonderful time with each other these last few days. I’ve slowed down posting a bit simply because I’m wholly focusing my attention on Carrie. I’ll keep posting updates every few days or so, especially as she progresses.

Carrie is fully back to her normal self today personality-wise. We continue to talk, laugh, cry, and process through everything that has happened in the last week. We spend time remembering Jeremiah, and looking forward to God’s next little blessing.

Physically speaking, her body is very weak. She can move all extremities, has feeling everywhere…she even sits in bed and wiggles her foot, just as she always has. But she hasn’t been up out of the bed, she is still struggling to even sit on the side of the bed. Her hands have been swollen, and its difficult for her to lift her arms. Feeding herself, getting a drink of water, using her phone, or even pushing the nurse call light have all been great challenges for her.

I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.

Job 42:2-3

Carrie finally saw a physical therapist today for an evaluation. She’ll be getting PT three times a week until she’s discharged. It’s going to be a long road to recovery, both physically and emotionally.

The weekend hasn’t been as quiet or relaxing as we anticipated, we’ve still been visited by quite a few doctors, respiratory therapists, the physical therapist, and the dreaded lab technicians. Lab draws have been difficult. When you’ve been in the hospital for a month having several blood draws per day, you’re pretty much all outta places to have your blood drawn.

Regardless of the commotion though, the nurses have been kind enough to reserve “rest” times for us throughout the day and night. The cafeteria here is incredible, which is perfect because my appetite came back strong as my stress began to fade. I make the trek down two or three times a day, and by now I think I’ve nearly regained the ten pounds I lost during the time that Carrie’s been in the hospital. I try to pick up a few things for Carrie to snack on as well. The cafeteria food may be excellent, but her meal trays are no better than any other hospital food I’ve ever seen.

We still face the issue with the blood clot in her heart. Thus far they believe it has a very small chance of moving. Carrie spent about 24 hours on a continuous heparin (blood thinner) drip, which doctors believe will start the process of dissolving said clot. She is now on oral blood thinners, and will remain so for the next 3-6 months. She will have an MRI and an ultrasound of her heart most likely on Tuesday, which will give doctors a better idea of what we’re dealing with and how treatment is working. There is still a slight chance that she may need surgery to remove the clot, so please do keep that in your prayers.

Aside from the clot though, we’re hoping for potential discharge within the next week. Carrie has so much more patience than most I know. But it is certainly wearing thin. If you don’t believe me, just ask any lab tech.

I thank you all again for your prayers. I have hundreds, if not thousands of Facebook comments to sift through. I’ve been able to read some of them to Carrie, and they’ve encouraged us both so very much. Thank you for letting me take a break from the blog for a couple days as I finally get the opportunity to love on my wife. I’m so grateful she’s still here. God is still blessing us.