3 liters of fluid

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday was a very busy, long, exhausting day.  The good news -- it was a visit to the clinic and he's still at home.   He is still fighting dehydration, so they did end up hooking him up to an IV for an hour in the clinic and we need to come back again on Friday and they are already saying they will probably need to give him another IV.  They told us that he needs to drink at least 3 liters of fluid a day.  For those who are metric challenged like I am, 3 liters = 12.68 cups, or 0.79 gallons, or 101.44 oz or 6.34 pints, or 3.17 quarts  (all taken to the nearest 100th) -- you get the idea http://www.asknumbers.com/VolumeConversion.aspx is my source for these numbers.  So, we are coming up with "creative" ways to get Gary to drink that much.  One of the biggest goals right now is trying to keep him hydrated enough and home.  The doctors seem to feel that a lot of his blood pressure issues (big drop between sitting and standing), lightheadedness, low grade temp at times, tiredness, and weakness are related to him being dehydrated.  We're still dealing with the C-diff so we are very thankful for the convenience of Clorox wipes and gloves, although I'm sure there are times that Gary must feel like a leper when we are after him to "don't touch that" since we all know that the best defense for us not to catch it and the best defense for him not to keep it is to wipe everything he touches with Clorox wipes.  We also were told at one point to wash his laundry separately in hot water along with bleach to kill the germs.  Tomorrow we will again go down to UIC to spend the day. 

Pray that we can keep Gary hydrated and out of the hospital.  Also pray that the C-Diff will get out of his system and that he doesn't catch it again.

Thank you all for your continued thoughts, prayers, and other acts of kindness.  We appreciate all of you very much and thank the Lord for you.

Love,
Nelly and family

                            For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,
                             I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
                                   I was a stranger and you invited me in.
                                         ~ ~ Matthew 25:35 NIV