Visitors Galore

Today was perfectly fun. Not much happening yet on the bum end of things. After a day on ice chips yesterday, I was given a clear liquid diet today. Lots of soup broth, jello, tea, water, juices and popsicles. Breakfast lunch and dinner were all the same. But, it is slowly getting things moving. At least it's making lots of gurgles and growls down in my bowels. I am told that when I can pass a little gas they will switch me to soft foods. So far I can burp. :-)

Carla joined me from home early this morning. In fact, she'll be leaving for home again tonight. Nathan drove all of our children out to visit over lunch. Carla brought in pizza for everyone and we played our Apples to Apples card game. I of course sipped my soup broth like a good boy. We had a great time together and nobody got kicked out for making too much noise.

When the kids left, I was just lying down to catch a nap when my neighbor, Mark, showed up. So Carla took a nap while the two of us visited. I took a walk around the hallway with Carla when Mark left and was just lying down for that nap when my Bishop (church leader) and his daughter showed up for a visit. Cool. No sooner did we see them off when Carla's parents showed up. I fell asleep before they left. :-}

We walked past my surgeon, Dr. Sklow, in the hallway during one of those walks. He was here on his rounds. He said he'll most likely put me on soft foods in the morning to take the next step in waking up my large intestines. Toast, noodles, things like that. Should be fun. That toast is going to taste pretty good by then. He was pleased that we were getting some walking in and said that our progress was normal and not to worry. Patience...

All in all it was a fun day. Any pain around my old stoma sight is minimal, with some swelling and tenderness in places. I still feel a bit bloated at times. I can press the magic morphine button for pain relief as needed. I'm sure that has been helping. My night crew just checked in. The nursing staff changes every 12 hours on the 7's. It takes the next shift awhile to make their rounds. I'll be in good hands again tonight.

I'll stop here and get this posted. Carla will leave next, and then we'll see if I get any late night visitors besides the staff. :-)

See you all in the morning...