Courtney Update - Friday, May 7th

11:00 AM - Courtney had a pretty good night. They increased the amount of nutrition she is getting and are cutting the Pedialyte out so that she is getting the full strength. When the doctor came in this morning, he told us that they are going to try a new kind of enema. She went to the bathroom about 6:20 this morning and once again nothing but runny stool. I left for work around 7:30 and she and Jennifer were sleeping. Hopefully Jennifer can catch up on some sleep and rest this weekend since I will be there more.

I spoke with Jennifer around 9:00 AM and she said that the "new kind" of enema they are going to do is called the "Milk & Molasses" (or M&M) enema. It is apparently an old recipe that mixes milk & blackstrap molasses, is heated to 103 degrees, and then uses a longer tube to bypass the hardened stool. This supposedly gets the stomach working and will push out the hardened stool. However, it creates a lot of gas and can cause very painful cramps. Several things I read on the internet swear by this, but said it is generally a last resort because of the pain. Please continue to pray that this will work or she will pass it before they do this. :-)

4:00 PM - OK. Don't want to get excited too quickly, but....... it looks like the M&M enema may have done the trick. She has used the bathroom, but still not sure if everything is out or unblocked, so she still needs to go again on her on later tonight. She did ask for some oatmeal after she went to the bathroom, so maybe that is a good sign.

Jennifer said that she did not have any cramps or lots of gas. Now we just have to hope that she continues to eat and will be able to have another bowel movement later on her on.

10:00 PM - OK. More ups and downs for Courtney. We found out earlier tonight that they found she still has some hardened stool. They have increased her feeds again and still giving her medicine to try to soften things up for her to be able to pass it. On the plus side, she ate some pudding and drank 2 apple juices late this afternoon and then about 8:20 she ate all of her tomato soup and drank a milk shake. She has gone to the bathroom 2 or 3 times and had plenty of gas and loose stool, but still not had a formed stool. She has not thrown up anything, so hopefully that is a good sign that she is at least processing some of the food.

We will keep praying that she does not throw up during the night and early morning and that she will have a bowel movement soon. She is sleeping well right now. Kelsey is spending the night with family tonight (she gets to spend some time with her new little cousin). She made it through her 1st day back at school (well actually Two Rivers Baptist Church). She has been helping clean up flood damage at her church and helping some of the families there that had flood damage also. I am proud of her and I have really been missing her these last 11 days.

Thank you again for your prayer support.