Day 2

9:25 pm on Day 1 actually (but my Day 1 was full - it's close enough!)
Ellie perked up this afternoon/early evening. She wanted her phone a lot (good sign), she even tweeted ... "Since you are my rock and my fortress, for the sake of your name lead and guide me." Psalm 31:3
She had some family friend vistors and she really enjoyed seeing them! Made my heart happy! She even took some photos with them (I can't post them though!). But she was happy they had come to visit.
We may get to come home tomorrow. Just depends on how she does overnight and in the morning.
We need specific prayers please...
• Ellie needs to drink more!
• Ellie needs to be able to tolerate liquid pain meds!

 She got up pretty easily (as easy as it can possibly be when your attached to IV's and all that!) and went to the bathroom. We never made it down the hall to see our friend Tory. She said she wants to go see Tory in the morning.
Please add Tory to your prayer list. She broke her elbow and wrist in 2 places and she had to have plates put in. They are having a hard time keeping her pain under control.

We are thankful and grateful tonight - her back and arm are feeling better. And her jaw pain never got above a 5 or 6. We are thankful for the physicians and staff here! These people are using the gifts God gave them to bless other people! Isn't that what it's all about?

7:30am - Ellie had a pretty good night overall. She was worn out last night and slept pretty well. She took about 1oz of Ensure last night and was able to take the liquid pain med. Then this morning she just took 2oz of Ensure. They are going to wheelchair her over for X-rays this morning to see how her bones are healing. Then he said she should be able to come home this afternoon!!!

11:30am - Well we have had some setbacks but could be worse I guess. Ellie's pain reached a 7 and it had been difficult to get it under control. She went too long without pain med and once that happens it's hard to recover. They are giving her pain meds about every 3 hours now to try to calm it down. Then they had to wheelchair her to Dr McKennas office which was quite painful for several reasons. It was her peak pain in her jaw at that time and also she had to sit in the wheelchair which caused quite a bit of pain to her burn. It broke my heart to see those big tears coming out of her eyes and I couldn't fix it. :( She has a friend cousin here now - Emma - and that makes her heart happy. I'm not sure if we will get to come home today or not. Ellie just told me (via text of course) that she wants to stay here another night.

1:30pm - they are going to unhook her from everything at 2:00 today and see how she does with no IVs. It will be so much easier to move around and go to the bathroom when she's not hooked up to everything. She's been taking her oral pain meds regularly now and we will make sure that we don't skip a dose. They would like to see her pain level at a 2 or 3.  She's down to a 5 now. They delivered her suction machine for us to take home whenever we leave. This sucks out saliva from her mouth and she uses it often. Also she has to use an oral rinse mouthwash to "clean" her mouth since she is unable to brush her teeth. And she can't spit so she uses the suction machine to get the mouthwash out. I'm not sure when Dr McKenna will be back but we will decide them whether we are leaving today or not. I don't think she would enjoy the car ride home (bouncy, bumpy etc) but I think she would be more comfortable. We will just do whatever he and Ellie decide. We just got a chocolate milkshake delivered to the room. Hoping we can talk her into drinking it.

5:00 pm. - We are staying another night. She just doesn't feel good. Light headed. Dizzy. Jaw pain is a 6. They hooked her back up to the IVs too. Dr McKenna really encouraged her to get up and walk. She did get up about an hour ago and walked down the hall a bit. Next time we will try to go a little farther. Baby steps. A dear friend of mine gave Ellie a wooden cross made of olive wood from Bethlehem with a star on it and inside the star is a tiny piece of fabric that has touched Jesus' tomb at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. How cool is that?! Ellie has been holding it and is keeping it in the bed with her.

Dr McKenna was actually pleased with her liquid intake. He said since she is still getting fluids through IV, it's fine that she's not drinking 32-64oz yet.

Overall I'm so proud of her and feel like she's doing so well. I'm sure she's ready to strangle me as she's trying to tell me something and I can't understand her so I'm guessing a million things, getting them all wrong, then she finally writes it down. But I've only gotten a mean glare once when I accidentally stepped on her IV cord and it pulled on her hand. I felt terrible! She's been great and I think she is looking better - the swelling is going down a bit - however she thinks she is scary looking still.

We have all our prescriptions ready to go home tomorrow. She did put clothes on today before she walked a little and I was thinking it had to feel better just to be in your own clothes.