hospitalization #6 (day #5)

On today's episode of Why Can't Emma Eat or Poop Properly (we need a better name for this show!), there was a visit by palliative care, a cage fight with GI, a visit with a patient advocate, as well as a new plan for her eating difficulties.

That being said, I don't have time to write about it all. So, I'll have to share some of this later.

But they're coming up with four plans for Emma. Plan A is our daily goal. Plan B is what we do if Plan A doesn't work. Plan C is what we do if the previous don't work, and Plan D is when we go back to the hospital. That being said, they don't know what each plan will be yet.

They want TPN to be Plan K. Which, if you don't know, TPN is a way to feed via the blood. It allows you to skip the digestive system altogether. Emma was on TPN and lipids after transplant, while her digestive tract couldn't function properly. But TPN can damage your liver and kidneys. Considering what Emma has gone through already with chemo and transplant, and the stress those organs have already gone through, they want to be very careful about starting TPN and want it to be waaaay down the line of options, out of fear of damaging those organs.

That makes sense to us!

They are also going to switch her from Kate Farms formula to a different type of formula that is broken up even more. The way she explained it is if Kate Farms is considered a cut up cheeseburger, then Alfamino Jr (the new formula) is like a cheeseburger put through the blender. It should be a much easier way for her body to absorb the nutrients and tolerate the formula. Hopefully even when her intestines really struggle she'll continue being able to tolerate it.

It seems like a pretty awesome plan to us. Oh, and they're also giving her Beneprotein, 3-4 scoops a day, to try to give her more protein.

She'll start the formula tonight, and she's been doing the protein today. Hopefully this will go well, and she'll get back into working order soon. The hospitalists have been a breath of fresh air. So kind and empathetic.

The first hospitalist we met when we arrived at the hospital this time told Emma, "I have some money to give you." She paused for a second and laughed, "I don't have money to give you! I meant I have some medicine to give you that will make you fart." hahaha. She said that on Sunday, and I still haven't stopped laughing about it when it pops in my head. She was way off on her first attempt! How disappointing for Emma. haha.

(I do have a little drama to share with you about GI, but I want to go ahead and post this because it's so late. I'll share it at some point in the next few days. It's a stupid story.)