April 22nd

Christine says that today has been a good day overall!

She started off the day by taking a walk all the way to the nursing station and back! She was hoping to go for another walk this afternoon, but there end up being a lot of visitors and doctors coming by so we didn't fit it in. PT came by to suggest some stretches she can do in bed to help with her range of motion and activity. The nutritionist came by and told Christine that she is eating better, but still needs to eat 500-1000 more calories a day! Luckily one milk shake with a scoop of protein powder will basically do it, but Christine is struggling to eat what she is eating all ready because of the pain in her mouth. With all of the healing she is doing though they feel strongly that she needs to be eating more. Christine's PCP came by and said that she did some research and found 150 cases of SJS tied to Wellbutrin - the doctors here didn't seem to have seen a case caused by Wellbutrin before Christine, so this bit of information was interesting to hear. The eye doctor came by on a "social visit" just to take a quick peak at her eyes, and he said things are looking very good. He actually won't be by again until Thursday because she is doing so well and doesn't need to see him baring any unforeseen issues. Christine still has a bandage contact lens in each eye, so while her vision is improved she says her vision is like she is looking through water. The one piece of negative news for the day is that Christine has developed a UTI, and is now on an intravenous broad spectrum antibiotic to treat it. She says she is already feeling better when going to the bathroom, so hopefully the antibiotic is doing its job. 

Christine had quite a few visitors today. Mom and Tommy where here in the morning, and then they headed to Vermont for two nights. I will be staying over with Christine tonight and tomorrow night, so I'm in the process of being brought up to speed on the details of her daily routines. I've been here through it all, but Mom has been in charge so while I know the general idea there is still stuff to learn. Kimmy came by in the afternoon, as long as a friend Christine's from when she worked in Beverly. Dan and Purvi came by with some McDonald's french fries, and Katie and Phil came by with taco salad dinner. It was delicious, and Christine was able to eat over half of her portion! it was so nice of Katie and Phil to do this for us. It was great to have the nightly visitors because Mom and Tommy weren't here and it would have been pretty lonely with just Christine and I all evening. Tom and Neo skyped with her, and she is currently skyping with her friend Janie. 

We'll update more tomorrow! It sounds like if things continue to go as they are going Christine may be discharged early next week. They are going to revisit this issue later this week when her progress is a bit further along. 

Combing through the hair tangles

Christine has absolutely loved all of her nurses, but there are a few that stand out more than others because they have been with her through some of the hardest times and have been her rock. Last night she had Jena, who first fought hard to get the PICC team in on Christine's roughest day. Jena was also the nurse who talked soothingly to Christine when she thought she was going to pass out because of the pain of the stuck bandages and sterile water. Pictured here are Jena and Christine, after Jena finished french braiding Christine's hair. With so much time in bed and not being able to shower, Christine's hair was in dire need of some TLC. Thanks Jena! We'll do our best to give a shout out later to her other nurses, as they all deserve some kind of award. They have done an amazing job taking care of Christine.

April 21, 6:30pm

From Christine: Today was a good day. I had lots of visitors and went for my first walk! 

The eye doctor came by today to replace the lens that was bothering her right eye with a slightly smaller size. She is much more comfortable, and he was very apologetic that he didn't come when paged last night - apparently the pages weren't going through. She now has his cell phone number just in case! Christine's skin is looking SO much better. Her face is still peeling, but there is nice healthy pink skin underneath so she is looking just great. The rest of her body is looking better too - Derm actually told the nurses today that she only needed to use the Vaseline gauze and burn vests for comfort. They said that as long as she keeps Vaseline on her body (just the ointment, no gauze) she's fine because of the stage of her healing.

Even though she is looking better, many things are still a struggle. Her mouth is causing her the most pain right now - her gums, the inside of her cheeks, her tongue, and her throat are all very raw and feeling incredibly uncomfortable. It is making it difficult for her to eat, even though she has an appetite. She also has a long way to go to regain her strength. PT came by yesterday to show her some exercises to do in bed because she has experienced a lot of muscle cramps lately. She also went for her first walk today, woohoo! Check out the video of this expedition below. We are hopeful that she will regain her strength quickly, but with all of the inflammation she has had and the number of days she has spent laying in a hospital bed, it will be a process.

Christine also had many visitors today to cheer her up - lots of family members, and a good friend from when she worked at Beverly School for the Deaf. Christine says thank you so much to Laura for coming to visit! Tomorrow night and Tuesday night Mom and Tommy have to return to Vermont for some work things, so Christine and I will be flying it solo in the hospital room. Dad will be coming back from Florida late tomorrow night though, so will be around all of Tuesday to keep us company and provide support.

A blast into the past

One of our good friends from Vermont (Kelly) emailed Christine with warm wishes to feel better. To cheer Christine up, she sent along two pictures from a trip the three of us took to Prince Edward Island, and when I showed them to Christine they did just that - she laughed out loud and commented on how that trip was one of the most fun things she has ever done. The three of us toured around PEI in the chilly June weather, camping and enjoying the food and scenery. We certainly had some amazing laughs. Kelly's comment was that when Christine is better she wants us to have another adventure, with some good old fashioned mellow toasting.