For only being 9 months old, Jenna is quite a tease. I was able to capture video of her favorite game. She gives a smile and giggles as she starts going up the stairs, just waiting for someone to remove her or follow her up. You can see the mischief in her eyes.
Monday, April 23, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Soft Helmet
Old - Ill-Fitting - Helmet (provided by the hospital). The entire purpose of the helmet is to protect Jake's forehead. This helmet is square, bulky, and extremely hot. This is also a funny picture of Jake shovelling in Mac-n-Cheese while he was on steriods and eating us out of house and home.
New - Fitted - Helmet. This helmet is actually roundl like a human head. It is open on the top to help his head breathe. It has also been decorated with some pretty awesome stickers!!
Much to Celebrate
Among the craziness of Jake's procedure and recovery, we have celebrated two notable holidays: Jake's 3rd birthday and Easter. For Jake's birthday, we celebrated a week early since he was in the hospital on the actual day. We went bowling and then to Happy Joe's for pizza and games. Below are a sample of the pictures:
Easter was just over a week after Jake's surgery. We celebrated with a quiet day of rejoicing and a small egg hunt in the backyard. Jake still had the original surgical dressing on his nose and we hadn't gotten the new helmet. He didn't quite have all of his confidence back so he insisted that Scott help him. Despite that, he had a great time helping Jenna find the easy eggs and finding the hard eggs for his bucket. According to Jake, "that Easter bunny is tricky."
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Jake Update v3
4/15
9:00 AM
The crisis appears to have been averted. Jake slept until after 8:00 AM this morning and when he got up his temperature was under 98 degrees. I am considering it confirmed that the high temp was correlated to exhaustion. Unfortunately, we have another busy week. Hopefully it's not exhausting.
8:00 PM
Well, he didn't have any Tylenol all day and his temperature hasn't exceeded 101 degrees. It was highest right before his nap but came down as he rested.
Thank you for the prayers. They have once again been answered.
11:30 AM
Jake's temperature has been holding under 100 degrees without Tylenol. We are planning to keep him home and quiet for a couple days and allow his body to rest. We are still keeping a close eye on him, but it is appearing to be unrelated to infection or illness.
8:00 AM
Sorry for the delay. Time has been hard to come by.
We had an appointment Thursday to have Jake's stitches removed in the Neurosurgery Clinic. Since we weren't scheduled with our neurosurgeon, I expected things to move relatively quickly...I was wrong. Our appointment time was 11:45 and we didn't get called back until after 12:30. None of us had eaten lunch and Jake had only had a short nap on the ride down. All of that ended up in a thunderstorm of problems. Jake was in no mood to be messed with and he was convinced that his stitches needed to stay in. He fought the entire process. At one point, our neurosurgeon actually stepped in and commented that he could hear Jake screaming in his office. He really stopped in because he had a question for his assistant, but he still made his point. On top of that, I was holding Jake and we were both getting pretty warm from all of his crying. That combined with no lunch and I nearly passed out a couple of times. It was a conundrum.
The good news is that Jake's incision looks really good and is healing well. The bad news is that he still had a little bit of swelling on the left side so the physician's assistant decided to leave some of the stitches in on that side so the swelling wouldn't stress the incision. So we get to do this all over again next week. Even more unfortunate is that all of the swelling was gone by the next morning. Oh well.
Now for the unscheduled. Yesterday (Friday), Jake spiked a 103 degree fever. We have him some Tylenol and he went down for a nap, but his fever only came down to 101 degrees (according to our thermometer). The neurosurgery resident asked that we bring him into the ER for an evaluation. So we quickly drive to Iowa City. Thankfully the ER was not busy and we were almost immediately taken back. The triage nurse took his temperature and it was exactly the same as it was in the neurosurgery clinic the day before. At home, all we have is a temporal thermometer that scans the forehead to the temple. We decided that the blood supply on his forehead must have given a false reading. Since he was otherwise acting normal, we decided to head home and monitor him. On the way home we stopped and purchased an ear thermometer.
Before bed we took another reading at he was again approaching 103 degrees but he was complaining about being tired. We haven't been taken his temp regularly so we thought maybe he has been spiking all long whenever he got over-tired (it's been a long week). More Tylenol and off to bed. I checked him an hour later and his temp was already under 100 and remained there when I checked him at midnight. However, when he woke me up at 2:30 AM, I checked again and he was over 102 degrees. More Tylenol. We woke later at 6:30 AM and his temp was 98.6. Jake was still tired so we slept until 7:30 AM at which time his temp had crept to 99.2. I still consider this his normal range and he is still acting completely normal. We will be keeping a close eye on him today. Prayers that this mysterious fever clears away.
9:00 AM
The crisis appears to have been averted. Jake slept until after 8:00 AM this morning and when he got up his temperature was under 98 degrees. I am considering it confirmed that the high temp was correlated to exhaustion. Unfortunately, we have another busy week. Hopefully it's not exhausting.
8:00 PM
Well, he didn't have any Tylenol all day and his temperature hasn't exceeded 101 degrees. It was highest right before his nap but came down as he rested.
Thank you for the prayers. They have once again been answered.
11:30 AM
Jake's temperature has been holding under 100 degrees without Tylenol. We are planning to keep him home and quiet for a couple days and allow his body to rest. We are still keeping a close eye on him, but it is appearing to be unrelated to infection or illness.
8:00 AM
Sorry for the delay. Time has been hard to come by.
We had an appointment Thursday to have Jake's stitches removed in the Neurosurgery Clinic. Since we weren't scheduled with our neurosurgeon, I expected things to move relatively quickly...I was wrong. Our appointment time was 11:45 and we didn't get called back until after 12:30. None of us had eaten lunch and Jake had only had a short nap on the ride down. All of that ended up in a thunderstorm of problems. Jake was in no mood to be messed with and he was convinced that his stitches needed to stay in. He fought the entire process. At one point, our neurosurgeon actually stepped in and commented that he could hear Jake screaming in his office. He really stopped in because he had a question for his assistant, but he still made his point. On top of that, I was holding Jake and we were both getting pretty warm from all of his crying. That combined with no lunch and I nearly passed out a couple of times. It was a conundrum.
The good news is that Jake's incision looks really good and is healing well. The bad news is that he still had a little bit of swelling on the left side so the physician's assistant decided to leave some of the stitches in on that side so the swelling wouldn't stress the incision. So we get to do this all over again next week. Even more unfortunate is that all of the swelling was gone by the next morning. Oh well.
Now for the unscheduled. Yesterday (Friday), Jake spiked a 103 degree fever. We have him some Tylenol and he went down for a nap, but his fever only came down to 101 degrees (according to our thermometer). The neurosurgery resident asked that we bring him into the ER for an evaluation. So we quickly drive to Iowa City. Thankfully the ER was not busy and we were almost immediately taken back. The triage nurse took his temperature and it was exactly the same as it was in the neurosurgery clinic the day before. At home, all we have is a temporal thermometer that scans the forehead to the temple. We decided that the blood supply on his forehead must have given a false reading. Since he was otherwise acting normal, we decided to head home and monitor him. On the way home we stopped and purchased an ear thermometer.
Before bed we took another reading at he was again approaching 103 degrees but he was complaining about being tired. We haven't been taken his temp regularly so we thought maybe he has been spiking all long whenever he got over-tired (it's been a long week). More Tylenol and off to bed. I checked him an hour later and his temp was already under 100 and remained there when I checked him at midnight. However, when he woke me up at 2:30 AM, I checked again and he was over 102 degrees. More Tylenol. We woke later at 6:30 AM and his temp was 98.6. Jake was still tired so we slept until 7:30 AM at which time his temp had crept to 99.2. I still consider this his normal range and he is still acting completely normal. We will be keeping a close eye on him today. Prayers that this mysterious fever clears away.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Jake Update v2
Jake had a follow-up appointment with Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose, Throat) today. It was the fastest appointment I have ever had, especially at UIHC. We were a little early. They got us in ahead of our scheduled time and before they even closed the door, the doctor had come him. He looked at Jake's nose incision. It has split open at the bridge of his nose where the majority of the work was done. It is also looking a little infected in that area. The doctor didn't think it was too bad. He put him on an antibiotic just to keep the infection under control until the skin can heal over. He wants to see Jake back in a week just to see the progress. Overall, he was excited with the outcome. And I was excited to be in and out of the clinic in under 15 minutes.
The most exciting part of today's appointment was when we arrived back at the car (we got a really good parking place in the ramp) and a lady had literally wedged her full-sized van under one of the support beams of the parking ramp. The security officer tried letting some air out of the tires, but you could see that the tires were bowed from the pressure. They ended up closing the entrance of the ramp and directing traffic out as necessary. It was quite entertaining. Even Jake couldn't understand why/how she would do that!!
Also, Jake got his new soft helmet yesterday. We are still working through the breaking-in period, but I think it is going to work much better for him. He will gladly put it on and doesn't complain about it. With the other helmet (Jake calls it the "sweaty helmet"), he would refuse to play because he didn't want to wear it. The new one is open on the top so his head can breathe, and it fit so well out of the box that they didn't have to add any extra padding. It is a little snug in the morning because of the swelling that redevelops overnight. Once the swelling is gone, it should fit like a glove. We also took the time to decorate it will stickers: Curious George and construction equipment. I will snag a photo.
We have an appointment with Neurosurgery tomorrow. We don't see our surgeon, but rather his assistant. She will have the task of removing Jake's stitches. He is adamant that they need to stay in. It is going to be interesting. I also plan to ask them about the remaining swelling and see if they appear concerned. For some reason, it is bothering me. It hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten better either.
Until tomorrow, good night, all!
The most exciting part of today's appointment was when we arrived back at the car (we got a really good parking place in the ramp) and a lady had literally wedged her full-sized van under one of the support beams of the parking ramp. The security officer tried letting some air out of the tires, but you could see that the tires were bowed from the pressure. They ended up closing the entrance of the ramp and directing traffic out as necessary. It was quite entertaining. Even Jake couldn't understand why/how she would do that!!
Also, Jake got his new soft helmet yesterday. We are still working through the breaking-in period, but I think it is going to work much better for him. He will gladly put it on and doesn't complain about it. With the other helmet (Jake calls it the "sweaty helmet"), he would refuse to play because he didn't want to wear it. The new one is open on the top so his head can breathe, and it fit so well out of the box that they didn't have to add any extra padding. It is a little snug in the morning because of the swelling that redevelops overnight. Once the swelling is gone, it should fit like a glove. We also took the time to decorate it will stickers: Curious George and construction equipment. I will snag a photo.
We have an appointment with Neurosurgery tomorrow. We don't see our surgeon, but rather his assistant. She will have the task of removing Jake's stitches. He is adamant that they need to stay in. It is going to be interesting. I also plan to ask them about the remaining swelling and see if they appear concerned. For some reason, it is bothering me. It hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten better either.
Until tomorrow, good night, all!
Friday, April 6, 2012
Jake Update
Thank you for all of the kind messages and gifts. It is comforting to know how many people are thinking about and praying for us.
Things have been going really well at home. Jake has a little more swelling than in the hospital but he isn't sleeping as upright, he's moving around a lot more, and they backed off his swelling medicine. It doesn't seem to bother him.
The medicine they use to control swelling is a steroid so it comes with a few affects. He is constantly hungry and thirsty, mostly for milk. I am sure this will be of benefit for his bone that is working to heal. However, I have read that the steroid has a way of interrupting sleep...that is an understatement. Jake is up more at night than Jenna. Surprisingly, he isn't as tired during the day as I expected. He wears out quickly in the morning but isn't really interested in an afternoon nap. He only has three days left on the steroid, so hopefully his sleep patterns will normalize.
Otherwise, he spends his days playing with his toys and reading books. His personality is there 100%. We need to keep him relatively isolated for about another week. After that, I am sure we are going to need some play dates. He is going to get bored with me!
The soft helmet they provided us in the hospital is a really poor fit. We are making it work for now, but he hates wearing it. We found an orthotics place in Cedar Rapids that has ordered us a different style. It is less of a helmet and more of a headband. It should be in by Monday. I am sure it will be more comfortable for him and not quite as hot. He is going to need to wear it for the next 7 weeks, so it needs to be something he will accept.
We have an appointment on Thursday to get his stitches out. We just made our first attempt at redressing it at home. It went pretty well. We will see how long it stays put!!
I really just wanted to report that everything is going extremely well. I never could have imagined we would be this close to normalcy in such a short amount of time. I realize that Jake has a lot of healing before we hit "normal" but at least our house isn't in a total uproar.
Things have been going really well at home. Jake has a little more swelling than in the hospital but he isn't sleeping as upright, he's moving around a lot more, and they backed off his swelling medicine. It doesn't seem to bother him.
The medicine they use to control swelling is a steroid so it comes with a few affects. He is constantly hungry and thirsty, mostly for milk. I am sure this will be of benefit for his bone that is working to heal. However, I have read that the steroid has a way of interrupting sleep...that is an understatement. Jake is up more at night than Jenna. Surprisingly, he isn't as tired during the day as I expected. He wears out quickly in the morning but isn't really interested in an afternoon nap. He only has three days left on the steroid, so hopefully his sleep patterns will normalize.
Otherwise, he spends his days playing with his toys and reading books. His personality is there 100%. We need to keep him relatively isolated for about another week. After that, I am sure we are going to need some play dates. He is going to get bored with me!
The soft helmet they provided us in the hospital is a really poor fit. We are making it work for now, but he hates wearing it. We found an orthotics place in Cedar Rapids that has ordered us a different style. It is less of a helmet and more of a headband. It should be in by Monday. I am sure it will be more comfortable for him and not quite as hot. He is going to need to wear it for the next 7 weeks, so it needs to be something he will accept.
We have an appointment on Thursday to get his stitches out. We just made our first attempt at redressing it at home. It went pretty well. We will see how long it stays put!!
I really just wanted to report that everything is going extremely well. I never could have imagined we would be this close to normalcy in such a short amount of time. I realize that Jake has a lot of healing before we hit "normal" but at least our house isn't in a total uproar.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Moments Captured
Homesick watching home videos
Tickling Dad
Reading Curious George in the library
Enjoying music time and a song about a pond
Ready to go home!
Being silly with balloons
Reading Brother's get well card
Missed his toys!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Recovery Day #5
8:30 PM
It is great to be home. I can see a definite difference in Jake already. He is enjoying all of the space that was lacking in the hospital. The three of us are no longer tripping over each other. He gladly took his medicine. We will see how bedtime goes.
Jenna was also happy to have the whole gang back together. She has been without her brother or puppies for six days. I think she hugged Josie just as much (or more) than she did me. When she first saw Jake, she went straight for his hair/bandages. Ooops.
We never did get a suitable helmet to protect Jake. But I got a tip that there is a place in Cedar Rapids that specializes in Orthotics. We have an appointment tomorrow to get measured for a custom soft helmet. I am sure it will fit much better than the padded brown box we got from the hospital.
I cannot say thank you enough to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, and generosity. I am in absolute awe of the giving hearts of all!! I attribute Jacob's successfully journey to the power of love and prayer that surrounded us.
1:30 PM
Discharge papers in hand. Waiting on a better fitting helmet. Then we are out of here and not looking back!!
1:00 PM
Our neurosurgeon stopped by and was so excited with Jake's progress (and if I have told you about this surgeon, you would understand that any sign of emotion is significant). He couldn't believe Jake's energy, tenacity, and lack of swelling. He immediately told us to go home. He said that there is a point at which the child heals better at home and is at a greater risk of infection by staying in the hospital. We have reached that point. He took some time to highlight risks we still face, most importantly seizures. Now we are waiting on discharge papers/instructions from neurosurgery and otolaryngology.
Jacob was also fitted for a soft helmet. After wearing it for a while and playing, we quickly realized that it was not an appropriate fit. They are working to find a suitable solution.
It is only a matter of time now. You have no idea how good it will feel to breathe fresh air, see Jenna and the puppies, and relax/sleep at home.
7:30 AM
The expectation has been set that we are going home today. There is a little extra pep in the camp this morning. Jacob is most excited. He keeps telling me to pack the bag! I do know that our neurosurgeon has two surgeries today so we will either see him between cases or after both.
Beside that, we had a pretty good night. I was excited about our night nurse. She adjusted the heart rate monitor so the alarm wouldn't go off every 30 seconds. But then with his first vitals check at midnight, a nurse's assistant came in and I now have a strong opinion that nurse's assistants should only be allowed on the day shift.
For now, Scott is running out to the car to get Jake's shoes so he can do some more walking today. We found the playroom yesterday and he is ready to go back and play with the "new" toys.
It is great to be home. I can see a definite difference in Jake already. He is enjoying all of the space that was lacking in the hospital. The three of us are no longer tripping over each other. He gladly took his medicine. We will see how bedtime goes.
Jenna was also happy to have the whole gang back together. She has been without her brother or puppies for six days. I think she hugged Josie just as much (or more) than she did me. When she first saw Jake, she went straight for his hair/bandages. Ooops.
We never did get a suitable helmet to protect Jake. But I got a tip that there is a place in Cedar Rapids that specializes in Orthotics. We have an appointment tomorrow to get measured for a custom soft helmet. I am sure it will fit much better than the padded brown box we got from the hospital.
I cannot say thank you enough to everyone for the prayers, thoughts, and generosity. I am in absolute awe of the giving hearts of all!! I attribute Jacob's successfully journey to the power of love and prayer that surrounded us.
1:30 PM
Discharge papers in hand. Waiting on a better fitting helmet. Then we are out of here and not looking back!!
1:00 PM
Our neurosurgeon stopped by and was so excited with Jake's progress (and if I have told you about this surgeon, you would understand that any sign of emotion is significant). He couldn't believe Jake's energy, tenacity, and lack of swelling. He immediately told us to go home. He said that there is a point at which the child heals better at home and is at a greater risk of infection by staying in the hospital. We have reached that point. He took some time to highlight risks we still face, most importantly seizures. Now we are waiting on discharge papers/instructions from neurosurgery and otolaryngology.
Jacob was also fitted for a soft helmet. After wearing it for a while and playing, we quickly realized that it was not an appropriate fit. They are working to find a suitable solution.
It is only a matter of time now. You have no idea how good it will feel to breathe fresh air, see Jenna and the puppies, and relax/sleep at home.
7:30 AM
The expectation has been set that we are going home today. There is a little extra pep in the camp this morning. Jacob is most excited. He keeps telling me to pack the bag! I do know that our neurosurgeon has two surgeries today so we will either see him between cases or after both.
Beside that, we had a pretty good night. I was excited about our night nurse. She adjusted the heart rate monitor so the alarm wouldn't go off every 30 seconds. But then with his first vitals check at midnight, a nurse's assistant came in and I now have a strong opinion that nurse's assistants should only be allowed on the day shift.
For now, Scott is running out to the car to get Jake's shoes so he can do some more walking today. We found the playroom yesterday and he is ready to go back and play with the "new" toys.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Recovery Day #4
8:45 PM
Well, we are here for one more night. Jacob got his first bath since before surgery. I think he is feeling better. Given that we are heading home, we put on pajamas from home. He seems so much more comfortable. More good news is that all of his medications were changed to 12 hour so we won't have to fight with him at midnight!! Also, his pain is definitely under control since he hasn't had Tylenol since 6 AM.
More updates tomorrow. Good night and love to all!!
3:00 PM
Since the last update, Jake has eaten a good lunch and taken a good nap. However, our nap was interrupted by neurosurgery rounds. The good news is that they are very happy with his progress, especially with his swelling. They have replaced his bulky bandage with bandaids that just cover the incision. They are going to have prostetics come up to fit for his helmet. However, they are going to keep us for one more night to ensure that everything is ok. They are still concerned about the possibility of spinal fluid leak until everything has settled back in place. They did indicate that they want him more active, so hopefully we can get him to the playroom for a while.
11:45 AM
We just got back from a long walk including a couple of minutes on the rooftop patio. The fresh air felt great. It must also be a good day for construction as we sat to watch two tower cranes and a "crane with tracks" amongst various other equipment buzzing around the site.
We still haven't seen neurosurgery. I had the nurse check in and he was in surgery. Hopefully he will be by soon.
For now, lunchtime!
8:45 AM
I want to begin by wishing my handsome little man a HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY (even though he already turned three a week ago...nod nod, wink wink).
We had a relatively restful night. Jake tossed and turned quite a bit. He is extremely anxious to go home; we all are. He also had a little fit at midnight when he was asked to take his medicine. But we got it down and he has been super cooperative with every dose since. He does tell us that he "doesn't want to take medicine all the time." I just wish he understood a little more. He is doing fantastic.
The swelling and bruising has faded even more today. We have spent the morning watching Curious George and snacking on grapes and donuts. Jake and Daddy just went for the first walk of the day to see the fish and Jake didn't even ask for a wash rag on his head, so the light must not be bothering him as much.
We are waiting for our neurosurgeon to come in for an assessment. He didn't visit yesterday so he hasn't seen Jake with his eyes open yet. All of the nurses have indicated that he is quite conversative at sending his patients home. I have mixed feelings about that. I want Jake to be safe and well cared for, but I know that he will heal so much better at home. Stay tuned.
Well, we are here for one more night. Jacob got his first bath since before surgery. I think he is feeling better. Given that we are heading home, we put on pajamas from home. He seems so much more comfortable. More good news is that all of his medications were changed to 12 hour so we won't have to fight with him at midnight!! Also, his pain is definitely under control since he hasn't had Tylenol since 6 AM.
More updates tomorrow. Good night and love to all!!
3:00 PM
Since the last update, Jake has eaten a good lunch and taken a good nap. However, our nap was interrupted by neurosurgery rounds. The good news is that they are very happy with his progress, especially with his swelling. They have replaced his bulky bandage with bandaids that just cover the incision. They are going to have prostetics come up to fit for his helmet. However, they are going to keep us for one more night to ensure that everything is ok. They are still concerned about the possibility of spinal fluid leak until everything has settled back in place. They did indicate that they want him more active, so hopefully we can get him to the playroom for a while.
11:45 AM
We just got back from a long walk including a couple of minutes on the rooftop patio. The fresh air felt great. It must also be a good day for construction as we sat to watch two tower cranes and a "crane with tracks" amongst various other equipment buzzing around the site.
We still haven't seen neurosurgery. I had the nurse check in and he was in surgery. Hopefully he will be by soon.
For now, lunchtime!
8:45 AM
I want to begin by wishing my handsome little man a HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY (even though he already turned three a week ago...nod nod, wink wink).
We had a relatively restful night. Jake tossed and turned quite a bit. He is extremely anxious to go home; we all are. He also had a little fit at midnight when he was asked to take his medicine. But we got it down and he has been super cooperative with every dose since. He does tell us that he "doesn't want to take medicine all the time." I just wish he understood a little more. He is doing fantastic.
The swelling and bruising has faded even more today. We have spent the morning watching Curious George and snacking on grapes and donuts. Jake and Daddy just went for the first walk of the day to see the fish and Jake didn't even ask for a wash rag on his head, so the light must not be bothering him as much.
We are waiting for our neurosurgeon to come in for an assessment. He didn't visit yesterday so he hasn't seen Jake with his eyes open yet. All of the nurses have indicated that he is quite conversative at sending his patients home. I have mixed feelings about that. I want Jake to be safe and well cared for, but I know that he will heal so much better at home. Stay tuned.
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Recovery Day #3
4:15 PM
We have had a very good day. The lack of updates is equally proportionate to the amount of time spent strolling the hallway. Jake is enjoying seeing all of the art, construction equipment, and fish tanks.
We had a slight break-down after nap time. He was distraught and told me that he was "mad and wanted to go home". Hopefully it won't be long.
We are definitely moving forward as he just asked for pizza for dinner.
My child is so amazing!!
9:30 AM
Jacobs eyes are open!! He will only open them if the wash rag is draped over his head. I am sure any light seems bright. He is also choosing to keep them closed when he is acting shy from the nurses.
His other three goals for going home are to: eat, drink, and take his medicine (especially since it is all oral now). He just took a small dose of Pepcid with apple juice and ate a little bit of the crust off of Scott's breakfast pizza. We will be home before we know it...though still not fast enough.
Pictures of progress:
8:00 AM
Jacob (and Mom and Dad) had a very restful night. There was much less traffic in the room throughout the night. We have significantly minimized the tubes and wires. It was obvious that he was able to get comfortable. Even when he did wake up, he was peacefully asking for whatever he needed. This was a much needed change from the rest of the day.
Last night was also an added bonus to his swelling. I think it is down enough that he could open his eyes a little. We tried to encourage it but he told us "I don't want to see". We will try later on one of our many walks to show him the cool stuff.
Our night nurse was awesome. She has gone out of her way to make him as comfortable as possible. When we got to recovery yesterday, the IV we had been using had gone bad so they removed it. Leaving him with only one IV tube and some monitor wires. As our nurse tried to give him meds this morning, he cried that it hurt. She looked into getting a new IV placed, but first she did her homework and got approval to give all of his meds orally. No more IV if he will cooperate. Also, I was told that he needed a daily blood draw and since the removal of the arterial line, that meant a poke in the hand/arm. Our nurse this morning double-checked before poking him and neuro discontinued labs. Jake has just gotten good news all the way around this morning.
Jake and Daddy are currently strolling around the Inpatient unit. Going for walks seems to keep Jake calm. Once all of the doctors have completed rounds, we will explore some of the hallways and byways!
He is still very anxious to go home and asks continuously for us to "help him go home". Maybe if he can see and play, the next couple of days will be more tolerable.
Happy Sunday everyone. Praise God!!
We have had a very good day. The lack of updates is equally proportionate to the amount of time spent strolling the hallway. Jake is enjoying seeing all of the art, construction equipment, and fish tanks.
We had a slight break-down after nap time. He was distraught and told me that he was "mad and wanted to go home". Hopefully it won't be long.
We are definitely moving forward as he just asked for pizza for dinner.
My child is so amazing!!
9:30 AM
Jacobs eyes are open!! He will only open them if the wash rag is draped over his head. I am sure any light seems bright. He is also choosing to keep them closed when he is acting shy from the nurses.
His other three goals for going home are to: eat, drink, and take his medicine (especially since it is all oral now). He just took a small dose of Pepcid with apple juice and ate a little bit of the crust off of Scott's breakfast pizza. We will be home before we know it...though still not fast enough.
Pictures of progress:
8:00 AM
Jacob (and Mom and Dad) had a very restful night. There was much less traffic in the room throughout the night. We have significantly minimized the tubes and wires. It was obvious that he was able to get comfortable. Even when he did wake up, he was peacefully asking for whatever he needed. This was a much needed change from the rest of the day.
Last night was also an added bonus to his swelling. I think it is down enough that he could open his eyes a little. We tried to encourage it but he told us "I don't want to see". We will try later on one of our many walks to show him the cool stuff.
Our night nurse was awesome. She has gone out of her way to make him as comfortable as possible. When we got to recovery yesterday, the IV we had been using had gone bad so they removed it. Leaving him with only one IV tube and some monitor wires. As our nurse tried to give him meds this morning, he cried that it hurt. She looked into getting a new IV placed, but first she did her homework and got approval to give all of his meds orally. No more IV if he will cooperate. Also, I was told that he needed a daily blood draw and since the removal of the arterial line, that meant a poke in the hand/arm. Our nurse this morning double-checked before poking him and neuro discontinued labs. Jake has just gotten good news all the way around this morning.
Jake and Daddy are currently strolling around the Inpatient unit. Going for walks seems to keep Jake calm. Once all of the doctors have completed rounds, we will explore some of the hallways and byways!
He is still very anxious to go home and asks continuously for us to "help him go home". Maybe if he can see and play, the next couple of days will be more tolerable.
Happy Sunday everyone. Praise God!!
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