Friday AM:
Today’s main event was a Doppler test. This looks at blood flow, volume, rate, etc. for Jayce and his support system. The test showed no improvement since Wednesday, the day we had our first Doppler test at the specialist’s office. The results of which sent us into hospitalization.
But thankfully, there has also been no decline. Improvement is not something anyone expects to see. We are happy with stability!
We also received a wonderful Christmas surprise. After my OB learned this is a special Christmas for the Trumpowers (reunited for the holidays for the first time in 10 years), she worked with the other doctors and nurses to grant us a short reprieve. On Christmas day, we can spend four hours with Josiah’s family at their home! We are so grateful to not miss such a special occasion. (This is contingent on our condition staying stable.)
Friday PM:
Now that we are settled and know more about the situation, the rest of the day was a sneak peak at our regular routine for the next…few days? Few weeks? Month? Doppler tests will occur once or twice a week. Heart monitoring sessions happen three times a day. The rest of the day? A lot of waiting around.
Today, we enjoyed a visit from our campus pastor and also Josiah’s parents. We watched home improvement shows with my mom. Josiah put several hours in at work to begin handing off his responsibilities. I mapped out a walking route around the hospital’s first floor. We ended the day with a hospital date night: a walk to the hospital’s Tim Hortons, a shared box of Tim-Bits and cocoa, and snuggling on our couch with a show.
How to Be a Snack Fairy & Other Things
We’ve been so richly blessed by friends and family already in the three days we’ve been here. Several of you are asking how you can be involved going forward. We thank you for your generosity and want to respond in kind with some real suggestions of what would help break up the monotony.
Local Help
-Loaning us card/dice/board games or puzzles. (I can return them once we’re out of the hospital!) Better yet, give us the gift of you and visit for a game night!
-Bring your favorite movie snack and join us for a film.
Help From Near or Far
-Be a snack fairy! Things we love: fruit tea (like Snapple or Honest T), M&Ms, baby carrots, cereal (we have free access to milk but not cereal; favs are Mini Wheats, Raisin Bran, Capn’Crunch), apples, clementine oranges, grapes, chocolate treats (Josiah loves chocolate + almonds), choc covered pretzels, muffins, celery sticks, trail mix, cheese cubes, cherry tomatoes.
-Gift cards to Starbucks, Tim Hortons, or Chipotle. These are all special treats we can get from inside the hospital or nearby, and would be a great change in pace from our regular cafeteria food.
-Parking/commuting fees. I know cash gifts are not terribly romantic, but my mom is spending quite a lot on parking fees/transportation costs. She is staying indefinitely and is a huge blessing to us dealing with daily life outside the hospital walls. Any gift of cash to take the edge off her commute cost/errand running is such an impactful way to partner your help with her help.
These are only ideas for anyone interested. We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers. If you want to get in touch about a visit and need our room number, or you want our home address for mailing/dropping off items, just text or email me!
Wishing you the best start to your Christmas weekend!