a good day??

Here we are at the end of another day at U of M.  I really am starting to feel them all blend in.  Today started out with Kasi really having great news and being able to get her tube out of her nose.  This was/is awesome for her.  It feels so much better with that thing out.  She was also given the freedom to actually have something in her mouth and swallow for the first time.  She was told she could go on a clear liquid diet too!  We were so excited, and at the same time Kasi was very nervous.  She has a few bites of jello and then she had a drink of sprite.  She started out with apple juice, but after a bit that didn't taste good anymore.  Kasi did really great with eating only a very small amount and eating really slowly.  She also started to feel "funny" after her little lunch.  About 3 tablespoons full (both drink and jello) over a 1/2 hour.  We put her lunch away for her thinking she might be wanting something later.  Well, dinner time came and she felt a little yucky and we thought maybe she was just feeling hungry.  She tried a sip or two of broth and had a couple of bites of jello thinking that would help her tummy feel better.  She paced herself again and this time her belly told her to stop.  About 5 minutes after she started, she ended up seeing all of her food again.  From the whole day, not just the few bites this evening.  I feel so bad for her, she started to cry and asked "do I have to have the tube put back in?"  This is her biggest fear right now.  It was so great to have it out that she is really feeling better with it out, but getting that back in would devastate her.  I am thinking it will just be a process and that tomorrow we will do things even slower.  I am not sure what slower looks like, but we will find away.  Now, she has a belly pain which she just can't seem to kick.  The morphine has been started for the pain and hopefully she will be able to have a restful night.  Beside still getting woke up at 1:00 and 5:00 for breathing treatments and her bathroom trips. 
As for the white blood cells.  They were a little higher again today.  We are not totally sure what is going on with that because they have her on 3 antibiotics to cover anything she might have.  It seems to not be working because they are still high.  It was explained to us by one doctor today that these white blood cells might just be "late for the fight".  He said that when her body called for them to kick in a fight they were not ready so now when they are ready they showed up and the fight is over.  I am not sure what the vascular team will say about his thought on this, but if they are okay with his thought process maybe they will do her angiogram before they are at normal numbers.  We will see, I am not sure how communication works up here yet.  I am not sure if I will ever totally understand all of that.  We are a unique case and how they all communicate on her case is kind of confusing. I will know more in the morning.
The lung issue seems to be getting better.  They didn't do a chest Xray today, but they listen to her and are amazed at how good she sounds now.  This is a great feeling for her!  She smiles every time they mention it. 
Here is our goal, we would really like to be home for Thanksgiving.  I know it seems crazy to think we could be here in a week yet, but as slow as things move it would be a GREAT thing to accomplish.  We are praying for her to have her angiogram the beginning of next week.  Like Monday or Tuesday, so we could have our day of recovery and come home.  If you could join us in that prayer that would be awesome! 
We know that God's timing is perfect though and if there is one more person we need to share the light with, then we will be faithful with that too.  But hopefully we are at the end of our journey here and can move it back home.
When I asked Kasi just now how she felt about the whole day, she said, "it was a good day".  So, even though her belly isn't tolerating food yet, she still feels like she is having a good day and that is what matters.