Table for one, please

Cleveland is empty. This is not the Independence Day mecca that the hordes flock to, apparently, it is just the opposite. There was a free concert on the square last evening and fireworks that followed. Everyone must have bailed out after the grand finale.

It is a legal holiday which means there is a skeleton crew here at the clinic…. Skeleton crew at the hospital! Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk! ….. This also means that we get the brand new, low on the totem pole, resident physicians overseeing Renee’s care rather than her surgeon and staff doctors. So what does Cowboy Doc, as Renee calls him, do first thing this morning? He tells Renee she’s here til maybe Tuesday. He still has her at NPO. How the heck are we ever going to tell if the bowel has reawakened if we don’t reintroduce food to Renee’s system? It has been six days since she has seen even a cup of clear broth. In every sense we’ve really got to get things moving.

There has been no change in status for Renee since yesterday, she’s on maintain. Pain is there but tolerable, nausea comes and goes. She gets up and walks around, gets worn out and returns to bed. At least since they set up the picc line she has not had to get stabbed every couple of hours. The only shot she’s getting is Heparin, a blood thinner. It burns going in and creates a nice pattern of bruising on the upper arm. The nutrition bag is still hanging and dripping what looks like lemon-lime Gatorade into her IV.

I’ve just sent the nurse to check on removing the NPO muzzle from Renee’s chart. They’ll probably have to set up a visit from a mastication specialist to re-teach her how to use those pearly protrusions lodged inside the oral cavity.

Sounds like lunchtime to me.