We ended up in the ICU for 4 days at Hasboro (you know it is serious when you end up there). And, then we were moved to a “regular room” after that until this last Thursday. First let me tell you that being in the ICU at Hasboro definitely puts things in perspective. The girl next door to us had her room completely decorated with signs and stuffed animals, which would indicate that she had been there for quite a while. There was a little boy probably about 2 years old on the other side of us who was strapped down to some weird looking chair and had tubes coming out of his throat the entire time and then – the real kicker – a boy actually died while we were there. We didn’t realize this was happening until we heard his mother screaming at the top of her lungs and they came to close our door. It was horrible. So, for those reasons, I was happy to move up to the “normal” floor. However, things were definitely a bit more chaotic up there. We had a screaming baby next door to us (then again, we were that room with a screaming baby at times as well, so??) and then had a toddler on the other side of us who screamed when he was mad and then banged on a play drum when he wasn’t. Then there was the little girl with the IV who was being wheeled around the floor in a wagon and then there was the guy who came to play the guitar for all of the kids during the day. So, things were definitely a bit more active, which resulted in a bit less sleep for us all.
Speaking of sleep – I stayed with Alex every night while we were there. I now know what the new fathers go through in the recovery room after having a baby. Wow – those chairs (josh calls them transformer chairs because that is exactly what they look like) that fold out to a bed really are not comfortable. Not to mention, the nurses that come in, oh I don’t know, ONE HUNDRED times a night to check on us. Ugh. Oh – and, the antibiotic machine that beeps every time the antibiotics are done. Yet, somehow, none of the nurses can hear this. So, it requires me to get up and go to the lobby to tell them before it wakes up my sleeping child.
And, then – this is my favorite – the med students. I hate them. And, they know it. I was definitely known as that bitch by all of them. Inevitably, they would come into the room to check (ie, use my son to learn) on Alex right when he had fallen asleep. It started off with me just being bitchy and saying things like, “yes, I do mind if you look at him, but do I have a choice?” and then just turned into, “no – you can’t look at him right now. He hasn’t had a fever for 3 days, so do you really think that it is necessary to stick that thing up his butt again?” They hated me.
Now – to get to the title of this post (and to shed some humor on this horrible situation). One of the 5 things that was attached to Alex while he was there (no, I’m not exaggerating) was a monitor that was attached to his big toe that monitored his heart rate. On this little monitor was a red light. It was hilarious. While his foot was under a blanket – it looked just like ET. We tried to get a picture of it, but weren’t too successful. You’ll have to use your imagination.
One other positive thing that came out of this – while we were there, we had the GI doctors take a look at him for his reflux. One of the tests that they did was to stick a probe up through his nose and then down his throat and leave it there for 24 hours to measure the acid coming up and down.
The actual process sucked – I couldn’t feed him for 4 hours before and obviously, he wasn’t a big fan of having something shoved up his nose for 24 hours. BUT – the good news is – they saw no acid coming back up. So, the meds that he is on is working! I feel so much better knowing that the reflux isn’t bugging him anymore. Then again, we no longer have an excuse if he is fussy!
Another positive - My mom flew out here the day after Alex got admitted and has been here ever since. It has been a huge help having her around, to say the least. A girl just needs her mom during times like these. And, clearly, Alex needed his grandma!
ANYWAY – we are now home. Thank god. hey never did find out what it was, so they are treating him as though he has the worst bacterial infection he could have. He has an IV in his arm and we have to give him antibiotics through this once a day for 2 weeks. It is a little nerve wracking being in charge of antibiotics being given to your 8 week old, but we’re managing. Here is a picture of him attached to the pump that we use to give the meds.
It is also kind of a pain in the butt giving him a bath. My mom came up with the idea of covering the iv in Seran Wrap - it worked!
On a lighter note – I found out that, once again, I have a creative friend – look at what Jess sent us! These are both made out of old t-shirts. Ingenious, I tell you.
On another lighter note (and, primarily because I can’t include a post with no mention of Miss Avery), I thought that this was hilarious. Take a look at what she drank her water out of this afternoon at lunch. AHHHHHH...a girl after my own heart…
Thanks to all of you for all of your calls and thoughts this last week! We really appreciate it.
No comments:
Post a Comment