Good news from the ENT. Shannon’s incision is healing well and there’s a chance she could go home tomorrow. She had a hard time last night with some back pain and chills after a lot of exertion during the day. She got a little sleep last night, however her pain has been pretty high this morning as she reached her Vicodin limit because of the Tylenol content. They gave her dilaudid, but it seems to have no effect for her and her pain got up to a dreadful level before they made it in to give her another shot of morphine. Overall the nursing staff has been great, but it has become clear that the disposition of any particular nurse can make a huge impact on the experience. Some of them take it very personally and gently and some do what’s on the register, but not in a particularly humane way. We are grateful for the gentle ones. And the ones that read the charts in detail so we don’t have to retell Shannon’s entire story every shift change.

I think whether Shannon can leave tomorrow is very dependent on whether we can get a medication regiment that keeps her pain under control reliably… I don’t know that she will be up for visitors today. A half dozen doctors have been in and out this morning to check on various aspects of her recovery and the baby. I slept here last night. It was nice to be able to help and check on Shannon at all hours. Still nervous about when and what the pathology report will be.

Peter