May 6th

Christine woke up today and had a relaxed breakfast on her own, with the help of yet another favorite nurse. Dad arrived around 11am to spend the day with Christine, and arrived just as Christine was getting her hair washed again with the pork chop. I think the highlight of Christine's day was when Dad took her outside in the wheelchair to enjoy lunch. Christine did notice while she was out there that even a little sunlight hurt her skin, so it will be important for her to keep covered as the healing continues.

Cindy, Katie, and Megan came to visit for the afternoon/evening and brought some goodies from Trader Joes. I came in just as they were getting to leave, after spending part of my day with vet visits and planning for Pepper. It seems he is on the mend! Dad, Christine, and I ordered take out together again, a fun little dinner party right in the hospital room. Dad carried the take out food up 11 flights of stairs - he's motivating all of us to take the hard route to the the 11th floor. I was going strong until floor 6 when I tried it this evening, and by floor 10 I was using the hand rail.

Sue from work stopped in to say hi and brought a new lip gloss for Christine. Paulina, her PCP's med student, came for a long visit (a social call). She has been here several times and she and Christine really seem to get along well. Dad and I got to spend time with her for the first time really, and she is HILARIOUS. I was nearly crying I was laughing so hard at some of the stories she was telling and the ways she was telling them.

Medically, not much has changed for Christine in the last day or so. The mucosal sores seem to be unchanged / still pretty bad. She has an NP to answer questions for her now, rather than an entire team of residents. She is still using the nebulizer, and from what I observe this is helping her oxygen some though she seems to get short of breath more than before (meaning she really does need the nebulizer). Now that Christine is distinctly more mobile she is spending more time "organizing" - she has one set of drawers and two side tables (like the ones that lunch trays are served on) that she keeps in order. Still not talk of discharge as the steroids are still being tapered and the sores haven't healed yet.

Christine has a new nurse on tonight, which makes her a bit nervous because neither mom or I are staying. However, we have met her already and she seems like she will be great.