Take this man to Maine

So yesterday Gib finally developed the classic Bull's eye that is associated with Lyme disease. As soon as I was sure I called Gib's parents and told them to come get Gib and take him to Maine.

He needed round the clock care that my sister and I weren't able to give him. I would come home from the hospital to my sister's house exhausted, and then spend most of my time trying to make sure he was taking his drugs, eating, drinking and how he was feeling. Do some laundry get clean clothes for next few days and then head back to the hospital. My sister was trying to care for him but she was also trying to take care me and her own family. So needless to say we needed help.

I feel like I was treating Gib like he was a clinical case instead of my sick husband because all my motherly nurturing and energy was being used up by Ellie. It would have been nice if though all of this everything went smoothly with Ellie but she is only doing ok. I found the magic number that she can not handle in the way of food and I now know, 14 mls per hour is too much.

Two evenings ago she began spitting up every few minutes and having very bad cramps. When we tried to vent her stomach to release some of the gas that might have built up, we got back almost all of the food that she was fed that day. This has happened for two days now and is not good.

So now I am trying to work with the doctors and nurses to find a good balance between getting enough food and not hitting her limit, and that means going back to 10 mls an hour. (where we were a week ago) We will ride at this amount for a few days and then go up very, very slowly. I just want her to start feeling better so I can have that nice happy Ellie again. She is sleeping a lot right now and that means that she doesn't feel well.

But she has a great team of nurses, doctors and now I am able to concentrate on what she needs full time. I will forever be thankful to the help and support that both Gib's family and my own have done to help during this time. And soon Gib will be back here playing with his daughter and enjoying the fact that she has now learned how to grab and hair and ears are her favorite target.