I find it interesting how many of the doctors hesitate to tell us when we might go home for fear of “jinxing” it. Just goes to show how human nature trumps intellect. One doctor would hint but not say, specifically saying she feared jinxing it, and another actually covered Hannah’s ears when she said the possible days.
But another came right out and said it, so if we don’t go home, I guess it will be her fault. (If you can’t tell, I’m smiling as I write this.)
The best estimate we have right now is Sunday or Monday. If she stays until Tuesday (which we hope she doesn’t, of course), it will be exactly four weeks that Hannah has been in the hospital.
For the medically-minded: her diarrhea continues (this poor child has had diarrhea of some sort of close to two months, between antibiotic-induced effects, followed by c. dif., rotavirus, and possibly smooth bowel syndrome which she has to grow out of), but her electrolytes are in balance and she is gaining weight, indicating that she is pulling enough nutrition from her food, and she is not getting dehydrated. The frequency of stooling (as the medical staff politely calls it) has reduced, the first step in actually getting over it, so they feel she would be better off at home (away from the germs that always are around a hospital, since that’s where sick people congregate) since we have all the oxygen equipment and home health support to be able to continue to support her in recovery.
Janet and I are, of course, exhausted, but it could be (has been) so much worse on us. We’ll be glad to get back home and, maybe, start catching up on the rest of life, which has pretty much been put on hold for nearly a month.