Yesterday, the doctors took another set of scans of IRP’s abdomen to see how things were progressing. There is still some distension of the area of intestine where the blockage was. They were also concerned that she had not passed anything but gas into the temporary colostomy bag. So, they had the tube put six inches further down so that it is now draining from the small intestine instead of the stomach.
For a bit, this made things worse for IRP. The new position of the tube puts pressure on her right eye socket. It was rather painful. Also, her abdomen began to swell again and was very tender to the touch. Finally, we were having trouble controlling her pain in general.
The nurse brought an ice pack for IRP’s eye. Then, she put IRP’s pain medication on an every-four-hour schedule. The result of these two actions is that IRP is now so comfortable that she is sleeping and moving about in her sleep normally. The tube has also done its work and her abdomen is flat once more. Now, we just need her to pass something and we can begin to look forward to her discharge.
Thanks for all your prayers and well-wishes!
TSG
In the Ensuing Panic 
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