Ammonia level back to normal

I must say I was dreading coming to the hospital this morning. I was here until about 11 pm last night. Tom was sleeping when I left. I worried about him all night.

When I came in this morning, Tom was sitting up in bed eating breakfast. We both said "hey" and I asked him how he was doing. He told me he was feeling pretty good and that his ammonia level was back to normal. I just started crying. I was so relieved. The nurse told me he slept all night.

It's been a pretty good day. Tom's good friend Dennis was here for a good part of the day which was great for both of us. I took advantage of the time and headed back home and put away the few Christmas decorations we had up. I also cleaned out the fireplace and set it up for a new fire that we can enjoy when Tom comes home - it's supposed to get pretty cold here this week. The puppies enjoyed a nice day to run around in the yard.

Tom and I ordered dinner from Outback Steakhouse tonight. The break from hospital food was great! I will hang around until midnight and then head home. I could really use a good nights sleep.

We missed celebrating Christmas with my family in Memphis today but we all survived. I stayed pretty busy so which helped. Once Tom comes home we'll arrange to get together and exchange our gifts.

I'm really hoping Tom will want to get up and move around tomorrow. I think that would make him feel a lot better. His nurse took really good care of him today so that helped all of us.

Tom is back on the IV antibiotic he was on when he first got here (the same one he was getting at home). His white blood cell count went down to 14! His red blood cell count is low and if it falls any lower, they will give him some blood tomorrow. I asked for the results of last nights chest X-ray. The nurse told me "unofficially" that the record said "unremarkable". Really!?! What does that even mean? Could they be more ambiguous? The nurse said they didn't find anything so that is good news.

We're looking forward to an uneventful New Years Day full of football. We hope you all have a safe, happy, and healthy 2012!

Love,

Tom and Jeanne