Updates & Improvements

Don’t quote me on this and don’t be too disappointed if I can’t follow through, but I’m going to try to update more often. Sometimes, my updates will be very short but I won’t wait until I have a ton of stuff to say before I post.  I hate the thought of so many people who love Jacob checking on here day after day and not finding any news.  I have met so many families up here in the hospital with kiddos fighting cancer alongside of us.  I love those kids so much and I get very emotionally wrapped up in their fights.  Somehow it helps me deal with Jacob’s battle.  Knowing we are not alone sadly brings me comfort.  It also somehow stops me from obsessing over Jacob’s struggles and difficulties.  There have been many times, many sleepless nights when I wonder about one of those kiddos and wish I could know if they are okay.  Sometimes it takes many days or weeks for the moms to find the time and the strength to write about their struggles and it’s torture to wait for those updates.   I’ll try, no promises, but I’ll try to do better, even if it’s just a sentence or two.  It’s so comforting and encouraging to me to see how many people are following Jacob’s story.  Thank you for reading.

It has been 12 days now and we’re still in the hospital with Jacob.  This morning, the doctors came to see him – as they do every morning – and reviewed his x-rays and his CT scan from the first day with me.  They were pleased to say that they are seeing big improvements from when he was first admitted.  This is so encouraging and very much what I needed to hear today. 

Yesterday, Jacob went for a walk down to radiology for his x-ray and afterwards, he took a walk outside with Josh.  Later in the day, Aunt Wendy and his two cousins Austin & Makayla came to visit.  They read my blog and decided to take me up on the invitation to come do the exciting walk around ICS with Jacob! They all decided that the 4 corridors of ICS were not enough so Jacob took them outside the unit and across the big walkway to the University cafeteria.  They did a lot of walking and it made a huge difference! When the Dr.’s came this morning, they said “keep it up” and “do some more!”  They said the walking yesterday is the biggest reason for the improvements they see.

We just got back from downstairs for another x-ray.  I’m actually looking forward to seeing what the doctors have to say about it.  I’ve been watching his scans every day and now I’m beginning to see the subtle differences and learning what to look for.  It’s a whole new education for me – one that I never wanted or expected to get, but honestly quite fascinating.  So I’ve learned that black areas in the lungs on an x-ray are good, white areas are bad.  When we came in, most of Jacob’s lungs were white, or light gray and there were a lot of white stringy looking lines all over the lungs.  The stringy streaks are still there, but the space in between them is black.  Black is air!  All those areas that were white especially in the lower right lung meant that Jacob was not getting any air in that area.  Those areas are darkening and the upper parts are black.  There is still a section in the lower right lung that is very light gray/white so that’s the part we’re working on. 

 

Plan for today: more walking, more deep breathing, more practice on the incentive spirometer gadget.