To Stand

A few days without an update! How are you all doing it? Like the music? We needed some comic relief.

Clark is doing well. He was moved to an isolated room which is pressurized and we continue to wear gloves and masks to visit. His white blood count hasn't dropped in the last day but it isn't coming up yet either. He had a bad reaction to the Dolotin yesterday. The room was spinning, he felt nauseous, his body was shaking and twitching, he felt flush, and it was very difficult to breath. They immediately pulled it from his line and are going to put him back on Fentanyl. Hopefully this will keep his pain level down without the reaction.

Clark looked very gaunt for the first time. Even though he hasn't eaten in about a month, he didn't look thin because of all the fluid retention. Now that the fluid is coming off his body, you can really see how thin he is. We're glad that the swelling is coming down though because it means he's that much closer to being sewn together.

They inserted a chest tube into his rib cage about 4 days ago. Clark said this was so painful! His nurse, Dave, said that Clark was in so much pain that he himself felt physically ill to watch him. Dave said he has never seen anyone in so much pain except for maybe a woman in labor. I told him I have had two babies completely naturally and I bet Clark was in worse pain. Thankfully, the chest tube did its job of draining the fluid that was trapped there and they were able to remove it. Clark told them they could take it out but they would probably hear some words. I asked if they did hear any words. He said that it didn't hurt at all to have it taken out and now doesn't have any pain.

We hooked up the web cam on Clark's laptop and were able to make a couple calls to Kellen, and Carson, Jen, Roger, and Elliot. Clark's voice is very weak and labored so they couldn't hear him but it was still fun for all. Hopefully we won't run into any technical difficulties the night of Grandpa's party so Clark can join us through web cam.

The day before yesterday Clark actually stood up. They moved his bed into a chair position so all he had to do was stand straight up. He just stood by the bed, with help for a short time but even this much movement is very helpful to Clark. He was very proud of himself and felt very confident. Mom and I weren't in the room so Clark asked how far the waiting room was. He wanted to walk in and surprise us. Of course that was too lofty of a goal for now, but hopefully soon. He also asked them how long it would be before he could run. We're glad he's so optimistic. They will continue to work with him each day and aim for slow and steady progress. It has been weeks since his back has left a bed. I thought of what a great accomplishment it was for Clark to just stand. No steps were taken. He was supported the whole time. But still he stood. Often times we take simple acts like this for granted. Today, I'm grateful.

Thanks to Eric and Kate for the great pictures.