Day 251? Not the Monday We Were Expecting

To start off, NO it isn't a heart.  Gage had a great week last week.  His appetite was up and he was gaining weight slow and steadily.  All great stuff.  A very nice lady named Diane, saw our Dateline show and contacted us to offer to take us sailing.  She lives here in the Bay area and wanted to do something for our family.  We have tried a few times to go, but the schedule hasn't ever quite worked out.  She called us this last week and our schedule was wide open.  So, Gage and I were able to go sailing on Thursday.  It was a lot of fun, but short.  The winds picked up and we had to turn back.  We will go again when the weather is better and when more of the family is here.  So nice to meet you Diane and we appreciate your generosity,  you are such a wonderful person.

Saturday we picked up Sierra from the airport.  It is nice to have her back.  She had a great time in Salt Lake last week and met some neat people.  It was a really good experience for her.  She starts her job today.  She is a little nervous and excited at the same time.  I am really excited for her.  Megan came home late Saturday night and left early Sunday morning for her volleyball camp in Hillsboro.  She also had a great time in Provo with lots of stories to tell and fun people she met.  Lindsey had fun at her camp and is glad to be  back home in Oregon.  Hunter is enjoying playing with cousins and being at home as well.

Sunday night, all was well.  We had a great day and headed to bed.  During the night, Gage woke up a few times complaining that he had something in his mouth.  I handed him a tissue and he would spit out small blood clots.  He woke up at 7 in the morning saying his stomach hurt and he vomited.  I don't mean to gross anyone out, but it was dark brown with blood clots in it.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  He did this at the beginning of May.  He spit up blood clots during the night, then woke up and vomited blood.  However, the bleeding for that experience, ended there.  In May, we went to the ER he wasn't spitting up anymore clots or vomiting.  When they pulled fluid out of his feeding tube it didn't have any blood in it.

THIS time, he continued vomiting little bits of blood with clots in it.  When we went to the ER, there was blood in his stomach from his feeding tube. All throughout the day yesterday and through the night last night, he would spit out clots or gag and then throw them up.  Gage says he can feel in the back of his throat where the feeding tube has rubbed, and that's where he feels the clots form.  With him on blood thinners, it has the doctors a little concerned and so they admitted him to 3 West (not the ICU) to watch him over night.  They are checking his blood counts to make sure that they are not dropping and staying steady in case he might need a transfusion.  The plan for today is, pull his feeding tube and let the irritation stop.  TRY to get him to drink a lot of calories and continue to watch him.  He is currently sleeping and I am assuming that is from a long night.  So far, his blood counts have only dropped a little bit and his INR (thinness of blood) is staying stable.  They are willing to give up a couple days of calories to let him heal so he can be discharged.  I AGREE!! Jenna, our nurse practitioner, said this is an easy fix and she is glad this is all he is in for.  I agree, he is acting and feeling fine, maybe a little too fine.  He was more than happy to be KING of his hospital bed and watch 4 movies yesterday. We did walk 5 easy laps around the 3rd floor.  It was fun to see how much he has improved since our earlier days here, when we had to argue and beg for him to do the 3rd lap.  He went to the play room in the evening and we played some fun games.  Later in the night when I was getting him ready for bed, he was encouraging Sierra and I to leave, he wanted to spend the night there by himself.  I believe I "took the wind out of his sails," when I told him the TV was not coming on for the rest of the night and we would stay until he was asleep,    

Just a little bump in the road and a quick reminder of how blessed we are to be out of the hospital. So a heart hasn't come yet, but at least we can be having fun out of the hospital.  Hopefully it is only for a couple more days at the most.

In the ER with his "spit" bag.

WAY to cozy in his 3 West bed. 

A few pictures of us sailing. 

Thank you Diane for a wonderful afternoon.