Rounding the corner

So much has happened in the 48 hours since Shane's last operation.  He is off of the IV pain medications and gets Vicadin only on request.  As he puts it, he's now on the "opiate-lite" plan.  He can walk without a walker and he is off of oxygen.  The doctors are saying Shane will be able to go home soon if his appetite continues to improve and the symptoms of infection don't come back. Shane has lost a lot of weight, so a nutritionist came to visit yesterday and suggested that Shane try a high-protein diet supplement.  They bring this drink every meal now, but Shane isn't too eager to drink the foul-tasting stuff.  I contribute to Shane's weight-gain plan by picking up a glazed doughnut every day on my way to the hospital.  On request, I brought his favorite potato-kale soup from home for lunch yesterday.  His mom brought spaghetti for dinner from one of the Italian restaurants near the hospital and Shane ate it right up!  In preparation for Shane's home coming, I will stock the kitchen with lots of calorie-dense foods: guacamole and corn chips, bacon and eggs, coconut sorbet, and peanut butter.  If only we could all be so lucky to have a doctor tell us to eat lots of these foods!  The doctors also suggested Shane go to rehab to regain some of the strength he's lost during the last 2 weeks of fasting and bed rest.  He will receive rehab on an out-patient basis.