Continuing to improve

Tom is even better today. Thomas, his nurse, called me about 8:30 needing my permission to give Tom some blood so he's getting that now. They also have him under this nifty warming blanket which I know he would love if he was alert and the puppies would love crawling under! I think Tom's color looks better today. Yesterday he was every pale, maybe the blood and warmth are helping that. When I got here, Dr. Carr, the infectious disease doctor, had just been in to look at Tom's wound. He said it looks clean. I asked him if he thought they would go ahead and close it tomorrow, he didn't think so. He said the edges will need to be trimmed and it might be best to keep it packed and let it start healing from the inside. Even though Tom is not diabetic, it takes him FOREVER to heal, so this is going to be a long road. They have something called a wound vac that they might use too. I've not seen the wound, the nurse always asks me to leave when they change his dressing. I want to tell him I've seen a lot worse but I just let it go. I asked Dr. Carr how big it was, it sounds like the incision is about 5-6 inches and of course they had to remove the infected skin so I'm guessing its about the size of a dessert plate. They continue to back down on the pressers for his BP. Hopefully he will be completely off that by the end of the day. Dr. Carr said Tom's kidneys were doing well so I'm very thankful for that. He also made the comment that he's just glad Tom survived! God must surely have more work for Tom to do here! He will remain on the vent today. He's still getting 40% oxygen but I look for that to change today too. His white blood cell count is down to 33. I did question the dramatic jump from Friday's reading of 16. Dr. Carr said sometimes it takes a while for the bone marrow to register an infection that bad. On the home front, things are good. The carpets were cleaned on Friday and they look better. Finley decided she needed to remark them so did that almost immediately on Friday night. The flooring replacement cannot start soon enough! Too bad it can't be done while Tom is in here. I almost had a melt down being alone last night. I used to enjoy those times when Tom was out of town and I could do laundry and clean. So, I gathered up all of the dogs blankets and put them in the washer and changed the sheets. Then I went out and cleaned out my car. It was beginning to look like I lived in it with the blanket and pillow from the other night, my bike stuff and all of Tom's paperwork (which usually stays in my car). Anyway, I found the bag with Tom's clothes from Friday and thought something was missing. Then I remembered the ICU nurse asking me if they could cut off the t-shirt Tom was wearing. I had told her to go ahead and not make a big deal about it to Tom - he would want to save it. She seemed pretty excited to be able to cut it off, I told her I could bring a couple of more from home if she liked it that much, she just laughed. How many wives out there wouldn't like to see at least one article of their husbands clothing meet its demise?!?! With the help of Advil PM, I slept well last night. About the time I was drifting off, the dogs got excited and wanted to go out so I got back up and let them out, they immediately jumped onto something and after a closer look, they had caught some sort of animal/varmint and were fighting over it. I put on my robe and rubber gloves and armed with a bunch of plastic bags, I went out and picked up the remains. Then had to haul out the hose and wash the patio. It was not a pleasant experience. I made the dogs sit outside until I got a wet rag and washed out their mouths. Just another crazy day in our lives! I'll head out soon to do a few more errands and go play with the dogs. They are not used to spending so much time in the kitchen. Fritzi is clearly upset that Tom is not home and doesn't want me out of her sight. Finley is taking it all in stride. They have a large stuffed animal to play with and they have managed to tear a whole in the side and love pulling out the stuffing. It's fun to watch them. I'm finding stuffing balls everywhere! I'll post again this evening. Thanks for your continued love, prayers, thoughts, texts, emails and Facebook posts. They are keeping us strong!