Time and music

Well, I have come to the conclusion that things can go bad very quickly, but they take a lot more to heal. The last few days Michael's body has still continued to retain more fluid, until today, his weight decreased this morning. They have felt that the measure of how well his liver was doing was to be found in how well his kidneys are doing. They have been able to give him diuretics to help reduce the fluid, but the amount depended directly on his creatin levels, kidney function indicators. They have gone down to a normal level, which has allowed the doctors to try and help his body get rid of some of the fluid. He is able to eat small amounts, I think mostly at the threat of a feeding tube. They tried to put one in a few days ago and it was a dismal failure and he was really upset and very motivated to try and eat. Because of the extra fluid it is difficult volume wise for him to put much in his stomach, as well as the fact that he has hardly eaten for over 40 days. He is managing to get a little in each meal. The doctors and nurses are amazed with his determination to get up, to walk, to eat and to generally fight to get better. Even though he is tired and it takes so much effort to get up he sets goals for himself as to how many laps around the unit he will walk every day. Sometimes he gets tired and sad and cries because he just doesn't want it to be so hard and to hurt so much, but somehow there is always someone here to give him a blessing or some comfort when he needs it so that he can keep trying.
Yesterday his fiancee, her brothers and Danielle came to visit him. We sat out in the lounge and Danielle sang for us and a few other people who came to enjoy the music. It was a moment where all of the difficulty seemed to disappear for a moment as they sat holding hands and we just listened and talked.