Don't Quit Before The Miracle

One of Layne's friends reminded us of this quote by Layne's hero, Thereon Fleury. He said, "Don't quit before the miracle". We definitely have needed to remind ourselves of that over the past day or so.

Things were looking up my last post. By yesterday morning Layne's epidural was no longer working but surprisingly he wasn't in a ton of pain. He didn't require to take any pain medication until 1 pm. That made me feel really excited about his progress. They took out the epidural while I was there, which means the catheter was able to come out and before I got there they clamped his NG tube to see how he tolerated it. He did fine so 6 hours later they took it out and was able to start a liquid diet. Layne said having his first sip of water was the best feeling in the world. I was able to get him all washed up and even shaved his face. He was looking quite handsome after all of that and I snapped a picture of no tubes before having to put his oxygen back on. They keep trying to take him off oxygen but his O2 sats drop too low when they do. This happened the same thing after last surgery, so I am not too worried.

Looking Good!

First sip of water

Things were just fine when I left last night. Unfortunately things went down hill in the night again. His pain got out of control. He is no longer able to pass gas or have bowel movements again. So the surgeon this morning said he would have to go back on the NG tube if he wasn't able to do those things in the next few hours. We had a different Dr come in a few hours later telling us he didn't want him having an NG tube and ordered abdominal x-rays to see if gas was building up again. (Which we already knew, because his tummy was distended again) I should have been smarter and asked more questions. It is quite frustrating at the lack of communication on their end and I should have called Layne's mom to double check what the surgeon said in the morning. Long story short we should have put it in. Around 4pm Layne started throwing up again after having a good afternoon. It got really bad after he got back from his x-rays the feeling of nausea was constant. Thankfully the surgeon left an order to put the NG tube in and we were able to get that right away. On a positive note, through all of this his pain has been managed. It's sad though how loopy the meds make him. He doesn't like them but right now we need to keep the pain away. When I left tonight he was finally settled. Pain was good, nausea was gone and he was sleeping. I hope we have an uneventful night but thankfully his parents will be taking shifts again throughout the night to keep an eye on him. The surgeon seems to think this pain and distention are coming from inflamed bowels due to chemo and we just need to wait it out. I am hoping this is the case and we aren't missing anything. If he isn't able to tolerate fluids in the next few days they will start him on TPN. I am not quite sure what it is but he will receive nutrients that way.

This morning when he was having the really bad pain, Layne called a few friends from Lethbridge who were able to come and give him another blessing. It's nice people will come at a drop of a hat to help. I wasn't there but Jackie was and she was telling me what was said in the blessing. It's amazing how in all the blessings he had, the same things are said. It's a good reminder that these blessings come from god that he is promised the same things. It's very comforting and a good reminder to have faith and believe in what is said. After that they were able to get the pain under control and Layne was really wanting the boys to come in. I brought them in at noon. We have been very strict about having no visitors we don't want Layne to pick up anything from anyone. But we decided it would be okay to break the rules and make his day. It was nice to have them there even though it was a short visit. They get too distracted too easily. But it is nice to see how concerned they are. He had a few waves of pain and Blake held his hand while he was having those. Both of them love their dad. They are always asking about him and praying for him. They make us so happy! After they left I washed Layne down again and wiped down his room just to be safe.

Blake helping Layne through a wave of pain. 

Layne was smart and took off his oxygen for when the boys got there. Ty would have been too nervous to go near him if he had it on. 

My handsome boys!

Thank you again to anyone who has sent texts/emails/cards, anyone who has dropped off treats or meals to our house and a big thank you for all your prayers. We truly are blessed by all the support we are receiving!