Quick Molly Update

Molly is progressing very nicely. Slowly - but nicely. As I type this they are administering her pain medication, from which they are starting to wean her. She is still eating continuously, at full volume (18 mls/hr), at 22 calories. The plan is to increase her calories to 24 this morning [As of two seconds ago when I asked the nurse if that had been done – it hadn’t. We’ll get to the bottom of that. We are beyond being passive observers; we now drive the bus]. After it’s determined that she can tolerate full volume/full calories, they will begin feeding her on a normal schedule – one which we can maintain once we leave: 72 mls/hr, every four hours. As a frame of reference, she was eating about 48 mls/hr, every four hours, before we came in for surgery. She has been tolerating feeds well since she started eating again on Wednesday. No reason to think she won’t do well, but we’re beyond assumptions.

Somehow I missed rounds this morning. I think the docs hide out in the hallway and jump from room to room based on which parents have vacated the area. They want to avoid the barrage of questions they receive from parents who have been here long enough to catch on to how things work. We’ve been here now for 18 days; long enough to catch on. Incidentally I wanted to be here for rounds this morning as much to meet the doctor as to fill them all in on my perceived plan of action for the next three days, which culminates in us walking out the door Tuesday afternoon.

The attending on this weekend is a Lawrentian. Erin had a Lawrenceville t-shirt on the other day, so they made the connection. She told him I went there. Then she told him I worked there. Then she told him what I did. Word is he isn’t psyched to meet me. SLC, he is your prospect, I’ll qualify him for you.

I have no internet access in Molly’s room. There is a jack, and I have an Ethernet cable, but according the IT guy who was here a few minutes ago it may be disabled. He is working on it, which I appreciate, because it is Saturday and there aren’t usually IT people here on the weekends (or at night). I have some work to do, so that would be nice to have. There are three computers in the lounge, but people are always waiting to use them so I don’t want to take one over for two hours while I work. Not that I could even get my work done in there with a hundred people.

Last night Erin and I stayed in the Penn Tower hotel across the street. I wouldn’t recommend it for a vacation, but it’s not nearly as bad as the reviews I read said it was. It was nowhere near the worst hotel I ever stayed in. It was relatively clean. But you can’t beat the location, or the price. We got a full, uninterrupted night of sleep while only leaving Molly for about 9 hours. And we were right across the street in case anything happened. For the record the Penn Tower gets two full stars more than Allegro pizza. We should have stuck with The Greek Lady.