Hello all!

It has been far too long, so we thought it was time to add another post regarding Donna’s health.

The process has been slow but steady, and Donna has been very patient in regaining her strength. Here we are, nearly a full year after she was released from the hospital/rehab, and she is now able to:

1. Drive again
2. Move around without her IV pole (thanks to a generous donation of a portable enteral feeding pump)
3. Eat occassionally
4. Get on the scale and see THREE digits in her weight (more than that I cannot say lest I be so uncouth as to hint at her weight…just know that she is looking SO much healthier these days).

The blessings continue to be poured down upon us, for which we are ever so grateful!

Last night Donna was game once again to try solid food. This time, it was Arby’s that got the call.

We picked up one of their new roast beef wraps (well, we actually got two…I hadn’t eaten dinner either) and DONNA CHOWED DOWN THE ENTIRE THING!!!

Now, she had some discomfort (as she pushed the limit a tad), but there was no throwing up, no awful pain, no terrible side effects of note.

And to add to all of this, because Donna had managed both bolus feeding and an Arby’s roast beef wrap, she was able to sleep during the night without having to be “plugged in” to the pump. This was especially wonderful because it allowed us to actually sleep upstairs in bed (we had been sleeping downstairs on the couches for a lot of reasons related to the pump, etc.).

But for all the wonderful blessing that it was, I think that Mavra was the one most pleased with the situation as she was able to sack out with us at our feet on the bed underneath our ceiling fan (one of her favorite spots).

Quite literally, the windows of heaven have been opened up and the blessings being poured down upon us are so great that there is truly no room to receive them all (but we are more than happy to keep trying!).

More good news it seems!

Yesterday Donna was able to try “Bolus Feeding” with her feeding tube. This was something they wanted to get her into doing while she was in the hospital and rehab back in January and February but her body was too weak to tolerate it.

Basically, Bolus feeding is when you pour a can of liquid food into the feeding tube rapidly (over the span of maybe 10 to 40 minutes) rather than running a can for up to five hours on the IV stand and pump. The benefits are rather obvious: You can be free of the pump and regain your mobility.

Last night Donna tried it (we had both been feeling like maybe it was time to give it a go) and she managed to put an entire can into her system in about 25 minutes or so. She did experience some rather significant nausea, but that ultimately subsided. Since her target food intake is only four cans per day, this represents a SIGNIFICANT improvement in her feeding.

With bolus feeding you are more like a normal person’s eating habits where you have “meal time” that lasts about as long as sitting down to eat. Life gets to be a lot more like “normal.” Travel is much easier (don’t have to lug around an IV stand and pump) and you just plain get more of your life back.

All in all, this is VERY good news!

Another step forward in Donna’s recovery!

Tonight, after a rousing two days of cleaning up a soaked basement, Donna felt like going out to dinner. We ended up at Mama Mia’s in Redford.

She ordered a dish with veal and crab, and the owner let her try a portion of whitefish which Donna said was “cooked to perfection.” Of course, when you have gone so long without food *I* could have cooked it and she would have thought it was cooked to perfection!

She skipped the salad, had a small amount of bread, and then was able to eat a small but significant portion of her veal and crab dish. So far she has not had any ill effects….but they usually show up after a longer period of time. Of course, she is feeling much better emotionally. To be able to eat ANY amount of food and enjoy it is a big boost to her.

If it is like her last dinner out, she will be many days in the nibbling of it before it is gone. However, this is much better than before where the slightest bit of food in her stomach had her in dire pain and nausea within a few hours.

Thanks for all the prayers! It is good to see continued progress!

Donna weighed in at 95 pounds today! That is 2 more pounds in the last two weeks or so. GREAT!

Also, Donna has been able to eat small amounts now of certain foods. Things she has been able to eat include:

• A dinner from IHOP (Tilapia) including small potatoes. Donna was able to eat THE ENTIRE THING over the course of several days.
• Some seafood salad from Westborn Market
• Some Pita bread with a mild dipping sauce

Needless to say, we are OVERJOYED! Her slow but steady progress is just what the doctor ordered!