Hospital Update

Sorry for the lapse of time in our updates... it has certainly been quite the afternoon!

We were whisked from the ER up to a private room around 11:30. We were able to meet with the on-call specialist pretty quickly after we got into our room, and within fifteen minutes he was set to perform an "irrigation procedure". At the risk of grossing everyone out, that involved making a small incision in Michael's nose and then forcing several syringes of saline (salt water,
friends) through it. We thought the procedure in the ER was bad; this one was incomparable for Michael.

Fortunately, the pain medicine eventually seemed to take effect. Michael has also had two very large IV bags of a heavy-duty antibiotic, which name is too difficult for me to remember. He's also taking a heavy duty oral antibiotic on top of all that. He's been able to rest pretty well all afternoon, now that no one is shoving things up his nose. He's been known to dose off
mid-sentence, or while channel surfing. I, fortunately, saved a good book from my most recent library trip and have been able to occupy myself with it for most of the afternoon.

We will, for sure, be here until sometime on Monday. This is our best-case scenario. The doctor says Michael's swelling will probably peak when he wakes up in the morning, and then we'll be able to see some of the positive effects of all of his antibiotics. He likened the procedure to stopping a boulder from rolling down a steep hill; it takes a while to do it once you get it started. Michael was also running a fever at their last check (his first fever in this whole process), but it appears to be subsiding somewhat. Please pray that this round of treatments does indeed prove to be effective...as aggressive as these treatments are, I'd hate to see what anything more aggressive would look like. We're also anxious to get home and be healthy again.

The wireless that was so reliable in the emergency department is spotty up here in the main hospital. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be able to update, but I'll try and keep everyone posted on Michael's progress. We sure do appreciate all of your prayers!