Cynde’s eating ice cream!

I knew before all of this what a great and powerful tribe you are, but you’re somehow still exceeding expectations. Thank you for that.

After our post yesterday, our amazing nurse came into Cynde’s room and asked what she needed most.

Without hesitation, she said, “I want this NG tube out.”

If she could have manifested one thing in that moment, it would have been the removal of that tube.

I have to tell you, good nurses are the best. This stinkin’ tube is nestled down in her stomach and goes out her nose; that’s a lot of tube. She told the nurse she was really worried that its extraction would be painful.

“Let me get some cream that will numb your nose,” he said.

He came back with some lidocaine cream and carefully applied it.

“Let me just make sure you’re numb.”

And with that, abracadabra, he removed the tube before she even realized what had happened.

Nice job, Dustin. Nice job.

And after the tube came out, they decided she should celebrate with a little ice cream.

She ate it.

She kept it down.

Double, triple yay!!!

This morning was about mobility, getting her to walk and sit upright to help things move around. And you know our Cynde, she was all about all of that.

The team decided she was stable enough to move down to the Oncology Gynecology floor (GynOC), and they were putting plans in place when I left. The ICU team sees a lot of really sick people and has a hard job. It was evident that in 48 hours, they had gotten pretty attached to the fam and are happy/sad to see us go. Dad even handpicked some high-performance golf balls for our nutritionist’s husband. She was pretty touched.

The goal of the ICU team is to get you out of the ICU and onto your care team. We leave feeling super relieved about the progress over the last 48 hours, but concerned that we do not want to return.

This means assy rattlesnake cancer is still poking around her belly. The GynOC team will address the ‘breadcrumbs’ in her belly and work to ensure she gets the nutrition she needs while avoiding stress on her system. The process might seem slow but they are being cautious and deliberate.

It will be a delicate dance, but Cynde used to be a ballerina. She can learn the steps.

The rest of us will follow along- and I mean that literally. Pops’ spirits were great this morning, so much so that Cynde had to tell him to shush a couple times so she could talk to the docs.

As for me, I am grateful I can be there. I had a moment when one of the nurses asked if I had any siblings, and I got teary thinking about Ryan. AND then we had to explain our situation, which is hard, but it is who we are.

I will update tomorrow about moving day onto the GynOC floor. I have had a couple of people reach out to say they commented but cannot see their comments here; I will work on that. For now, this blog is the best place to get updates. You can also reach me at heather.schichtel@gmail.com. Texts are good too, but we are getting a lot of them. If we don’t get back to you, please do not take it personally; we are trying to keep a village informed, an awesome, amazing village.

I took a photo of Cynde and asked AI to have her eating ice cream; this is what it came back with. I am manifesting this photo as a picture of health 🙂