Eja would like a "get out of jail free" card!!

This probably won't come as much of a suprise to most of you but...Eja is doing very well. She has been on a SUPER anti-biotic now for 3 days and seems to be fighting the infection great. She says she feels better now than before the operation so that is great to hear. Every day they put her through physical therapy a few times a day and that is going really well. Basically, she feels like she is in a high security prison where she can't leave, can't do things by herself, limited menu etc. She has been cracking jokes about being a jail-bird and we all laugh. They anticipate she will be there for about another week until the infection is gone. They will re-evaluate then and make a game plan accordingly.
Thanks to all of you for your continued love, prayers and support.

Day 3 after surgery

It has been a few days since Eja's last surgery and she is just fighting away! They have her out of the I.C.U. now and in a normal hospital room. Her organs and vital signs are looking great so far.
One slight set-back however...her doctors have found an infection. They are being very aggressive with it and have her on a VERY high-powered antibiotic. The largest inconvenience that she has with this is the fact that she must stay in the hospital for the full course of this treatment. We don't know right now just how long but her doctor said, "Don't be in a hurry to leave."
I spoke with one of her nurses today and she commented on what a trooper she is. We must agree!
As before, if you could keep Eja in your prayers, that will provide her with the strength that she needs and that can't come from anywhere else. Thank you so very much!

Eja had her surgery this morning. It took about 2.5 hours to do it. Her doctor was pleased with how everything went. He said that there was an incredible amount of infection present but was able to remove it all. A portion of the liver that was injured in the accident was also removed because it was not healing properly. Her gallbladder was removed also. Her doctor placed some additional drain tubes and does not anticipate any further complications. She is in the I.C.U. and will be there for probably a day and then she will need to stay in the hospital for an additional 4-5 days.
Thank you all for your love and prayers.

7 am surgery..

Mom met with her doctor today and as long as her blood levels are where they are supposed to be- they will operate on Thursday(3-26-09) morning at 7 am. The surgery will include: removing the gallbladder, cleaning up the liver (scraping all infection off, scraping off the dead portion that was damaged, they will not be cutting on the liver- just cleaning it up really well) removing any puss pockets of infection, and removing the drain tube that is currently in her side and placing one in her abdomen. Her doctor is very optimistic that this will really help the liver finally be on the road to recovery. She will be admitted to the hospital Wednesday and they will be doing blood tests all day to make sure that she is ready for surgery Thurs. morning. After the surgery she will have to stay for four-five days. She has gone through so much and we hope this will be the last operation she will have to endure! She is one tough cookie! Thank you so much for all your thoughts and prayers. Mom is truly humbled by all the love and support that has been offered on her part. Thank You.

Yet another surgery...

When mom went in for her procedure last week, they were not able to place the drain tube because her blood was too thin. She takes Coumadin to keep her blood thin enough to fight the blood clots, however some of the other medicines she takes interacted with the Coumadin making her blood way too thin. It is back to where it should be now. They found a lot of infection so they did put a P.I.C.C. line in to administer a very strong antibiotic. They have also scheduled her for surgery on Thursday to remove her gallbladder and to place the drain tube that they were not able to place on Monday. Her gallbladder is full of infection and that is why they are removing it. She was feeling so yucky and having such high fevers, but she is feeling SOOO much better now. Yay! She's not exactly thrilled about having another surgery, but it's going to be good to get the infected gallbladder out and the other drain tube in to hopefully help the liver start to heal itself. You are such a trooper mom!

Over the past week or so Eja has been getting some pretty high fevers. Up until today, they could not figure out why. She had a CT scan this afternoon that showed an abcess on the back of her liver. Also, she has developed a bit of infection near an old drain site. Her doctors are going to perform a procedure in the morning at 7:00 a.m. to place an additional drain tube in attempt to aleviate the abcess and clear up the infection.
Once again, we would like you to join with us in thought as well as prayer for our Mom. Thank you all so much for your support.

Wow! It has been a while since we have updated the blog! Mom is doing so so good.
For those of you that are wondering about if you should visit her or not... you should! She is feeling so good now and loves to have company. It has been quite a trial for her to have to sit all day long. That is not something she is used to doing at all. So having company really helps take her mind off sitting!

She had a procedure done where they moved her drain tube that is connected to her liver from one spot to another with the hopes that it would slow down the drainage and hopefully come out sooner. It has been about two weeks since they have done that, and the drainage is slowing down a bit. That is great and she hopes that she will be able to get that out soon. She also still has the shunt placed on the other side of her liver, which has to be flushed everyday. She will be one happy woman when both of those will be ready to be removed. She was very excited the other day when she was able to get the lid of her cranberry juice all by herself. She hasn't quite worked up to her gatorade lid yet... that's a tough one. We have high hopes for you mom!