November 19

3:45pm

Nathaniel didn’t get much sleep last night due to some of the confusion that people with the ICU are prone to. (Time absolutely breaks in here, especially when you’re staring at the same walls for multiple days.)

So far today the docs have run an experiment to see if Nathaniel’s kidneys are ready to come off dialysis (they’re not) and they’ve placed a feeding tube so that he can take in nutrition 24/7 with as little effort as possible. Plus, this time they added a device that makes it harder for him to remove it in the middle of the night in his sleep. Best of all, he can still eat and drink while he’s got the feeding tube in.

Speaking of food, Nathaniel’s moving to a clear liquid diet. Prior to the transplant, he was essentially anti-food, with no appetite, little tolerance for the side effects of eating (gas, pain, etc.) and tooth problems. We can’t do much about the teeth from in here, but if we’re lucky the appetite and the food side effects will be gone, which would be a very ideal sign.

Our friend Emilia came to visit today and brought a card for him to read. He hasn’t opened it yet because he’s mostly sleeping today, but he’s looking forward to it.

Oh, and the Philadelphia Half Marathon and Philadelphia Marathon are this weekend, only a couple blocks from the hospital, so that will add some excitement or something.

Here are all the details for the 2025 Marathon Weekend in Philly

***
9:39pm

Nathaniel was feeling good enough to sit up for most of the evening. We dealt a few hands of rummy but didn’t quite play them, and we watched some tv, but didn’t quite pay attention to it. And by “didn’t quite pay attention” I mean we spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure out ESPN wasn’t showing the Monday Night game, only to realize it wasn’t Monday night.

He is still a force to be reckoned with if Jeopardy is on though.

I read him the card that Emilia bought. Thank you everyone who sent Nathaniel well-wishes, in the card or not! We both miss pinball and we miss our friends and family.

I also read him some Middlemarch, which, if you know me, is proof of my love… I hate 19th century literature. (JUST SAY WHAT YOU MEAN. IN ONE SENTENCE. NOT A  CHAPTER. I’M LOOKING AT YOU, NARRATOR.)  So far we have discovered that the younger sister in the relationship is codependently manipulating her sister and her sister is wholly oblivious to it, being too worried about whether she is pious enough. Mostly the reason I didn’t throw the book out the window is that it’s an ebook on my iPhone.

I was really worried two days ago when it seemed like Nathaniel was sliding downhill instead of improving, but he’s improved both yesterday and today… so I’m half expecting for a slight backslide tomorrow. And that’s ok! These things aren’t linear. Bonus points if things DO go well!