Day 38: status on discharge

At this point, we are waiting for Ava to get to a point where they would consider discharging her from the hospital... there was originally some hope before Christmas, but then that came and went. While it has been good for Ava to have her four-hour daily passes out of the hospital and get a change of scenery (even if it's just to the apartment), it has also made returning to the hospital even more depressing for her. In a way, sometimes she my prefer not to leave in the first place; it may seem worse to have a brief moment away, only to have it taken back and have to return to the hospital again.

As I understand it, one of the main factors affecting her ability to be discharged is whether or not she can take cyclosporine orally. Since this is an important drug to combat transplant rejection, Ava needs to be able to take meds orally and not have diarrhea, since that may compromise her body's absorption of the drug. Ava has already been taking cyclosporine (and other meds) orally, and her stool has been more firm, but her cyclosporine levels are still a bit too low. We're not sure why this is the case, as it would seem her body should be absorbing more cyclosporine than the levels indicate. Apparently there was some previous discussion about discharge today or possibly Thursday. Today no longer seems a possibility, so hopefully Thursday will be the day.

Another part that creates a bit of a hiccup in discharge is the holidays. The hospital has a policy where patients cannot be discharged the day before a holiday (because then the clinics would be closed if anything came up), and also no discharge on the weekends, including Fridays. With Christmas and New Year's falling on these weeks, it narrows the days that Ava could even be considered for discharge. Tomorrow isn't a possibility (I think it's because New Year's Eve counts as a holiday), nor can she be discharged on Wednesday as it is the day before New Year's. However, it's possible for her to be discharged on Thursday (even though it's New Year's Day), since clinics would be open on Friday. But if she doesn't get discharged on Thursday, then her next chance wouldn't be until the following Monday because of the weekend...

This morning, Ava had an unexpected episode of extreme stomach pain that had her doubled over in a fetal position crying over the pain.

Please pray that Ava's body would absorb the cyclosporine well, that she would have no diarrhea, no stomach pain and that she would be discharged as soon as possible! Ultimately, please pray for her healing and discharge from hospital. Please pray for her to be encouraged in spirit as well. However this all would happen, we'll gladly take it!

Thank you for your prayers, as always!