Larry here...

Lisa has had a pattern of (pretty) good mornings followed by more painful afternoons and evenings during her first two days after surgery.  Yesterday afternoon and evening were particularly bad...lot's of pain and significant difficulty getting it under control.

Today, we learned that she has something called an ileus...essentially, her intestines have shut down.  This is somewhat common post-surgery, especially when that surgery relates to the pancreas or abdomen.  When the intestines shut down, nothing can get through and pressure begins to build because of an accumulation of food and the fermentation of said food.  It is not caused by any blockage, it is just that the nerves and tissues have gone to "sleep."  That means that she is now fighting pain on three fronts: incisional pain, internal pain (due to the removal of her spleen and just under 50% of her pancreas) and visceral pain (due to distension of the intestines and gas and fluid buildup).

What can be done to heal an ileus, you may be curious to know?  She has been instructed to stop eating and drinking (she is getting IV fluids now) and she needs to continue to walk around as much as possible.  Eventually, her intestines should "wake up"...we just don't know when.

So we are coming to you today to ask you to continue/increase your prayers for pain management and incisional and internal healing and to add prayers for the waking up of Lisa's intestines.  At this point we don't know how much longer she will stay in the hospital, but we are in no hurry to get her home (her life is probably simpler here in the hospital and this is one of those times when having exceeded your out-of-pocket maximum is beneficial :) )

We love you all!