May 27th — Hospital Day 9
Today brought more conversations about treatment plans and what the path forward looks like, both in the short term and further down the road. The NG tube option came up again, and we continue to push back on that. Our position is that we should not go that route until it is absolutely necessary, because right now we have the PICC line as a tool at our disposal and we should be using it. Having a tube going directly through his nose while he already has a line in his arm feels like more than he should have to deal with if there is another option available.
Even without Rachel here, we have been fortunate to have a really good day nurse and night nurse since she has been gone. That makes more of a difference than people might realize. We actually added them and Rachel to Eli's care team so we can request them more consistently going forward. Having nurses who know Eli and who Eli is comfortable with changes the whole dynamic of a day.
We also got some really meaningful time with family today. Grampy stopped by to visit, brought Eli some clothes, and spent some time with him. We also made a Panda Express run, which Eli was very excited about. It was raining outside so we had to get a little creative to keep his head dry. We ended up using a Panda Express bag as a makeshift rain cover and honestly it worked perfectly. He thought it was hilarious and wore it the whole time with the biggest smile on his face. Those are the moments we hold onto. Later, Mammaw, Pops, Papaw Richard, and Aunt Heather all came over and we got to take everyone to the ball room together. Eli had a lot of fun and it was good for all of us.
Our t-shirts came in too. We spent some time with Aunt Heather sorting through all the orders and getting everything figured out. It felt good to have something normal and exciting to focus on for a little while.
On the lab side, we got some news that genuinely lifted our spirits. His CRP, which is a marker in the blood that measures inflammation and how hard the body is fighting infection, came back below the normal threshold for the first time since this hospital stay began. To put that in perspective, it was 5.5 on May 23rd and 3.32 on May 24th. Seeing it fall into the normal range is a real sign that the antibiotics are doing what they are supposed to do. We needed that.
Thank you for continuing to pray and cheer for our boy.
🩶🦁🧠 #RoaringForEli
