Chase slept REALLY well last night and even got up to go to the bathroom without my help!! Okay, so not a big deal for most people, but considering that he has to unplug is IV "Tree", wheel it into the bathroom, do his thing, and then wheel it back out and plug it back in? That's HUGE! And he didn't even wake me up either. He said that he didn't want to disturb me. Thoughtful boy!
He was woken up about 5:45 by a nurse who was checking on his vitals. He tried to launch the nerf-ish crossbow arrow at her but missed. According to Chase, he didn't actually miss because his thumb got in the way and it never launched. After practicing with the thing last night, he managed to launch it from clear across the room and right at the door - nurses beware!
The same nurse he "missed" gave him the idea of using a syringe to squirt water after she told him about a little girl doing the same thing to her. Don't worry, the syringes are plastic, blunt-tipped - no needles. Well, thanks to my Dad who visited today, he gave Chase one and now he's going to save it for the unlucky nurse who wakes him up at 5:45 for vitals. This mom just hopes she doesn't get caught in the cross-fire!
Oh, and last night, I slept in the hospital bed. Chase refused to give up the sofa, which is supposed to be MY bed. He was back in his own bed today though after his central chest line was oozing blood again. I know he's sick and tired of getting that painful dressing changed. It's a sterile dressing, is completely air tight and waterproof. Given that, it HURTS to have it pulled off.
They eventually changed it this afternoon and found a rather large blood clot that developed ON the line where it meets his body. They called in a surgeon to look at it, but they couldn't leave it open until she got here. So, they put gauze and light tape on it and then - get this - placed a 10 lb SANDBAG on his line to try and put enough pressure to stop the bleeding. No joke. I should have gotten a picture of it, but completely forgot.
Between the bruising that was already there and the sand bag, he was extremely tender when they pulled that dressing off to put on a more permanent one. Also, the surgeon put on pressure tape, which is a thicker tape to ensure more pressure on the wound to stem / stop the bleeding. She had to put down a lot of pressure on his chest to make sure the tape was tight and Chase left moon marks on my hand where he was squeezing it (with nails).
Oh, I did get a couple of pictures of his central line bandaging and have posted them. There is NO blood, but Chase looks pretty wiped out in the pics. I told him that a few years down the road, he'll be able to look back on them and barely recall that day. :)
Earlier in the day (sorry for hopping around), he got a bath!! Woo-hoo. Truthfully, even though I've given him a few sponge baths, the boy was smelling a bit ripe. He did NOT want a bath, but once he was in there really didn't want to get out. I don't blame him either. It was warm and I was tempted to climb in after he got out.
He received another dose of platelets today, too since his count is low. That didn't take too long and after that he was visited by two Big Apple Circus Care Unit clowns - Dr.Mimi and Dr.Notatall. I was on the bed with him when they asked if they could come in and had I known what a complete riot they were going to be, I would have grabbed my camera and filmed it!! When they learned of Chase's name, they took it literally and chased each other around his hospital room!! Then they both froze at the foot of his bed and the male counterpart (Dr.Notatall) looked at him and asked, "What's your name again?" Of course, that resulted in another chase around the room until the female counterpart reached the wagon that is in the room and he, poutingly, declared her "safe". The two of them then proceeded to bicker between each other and Chase keep egging it on until both of us were laughing so hard we were in tears. Most of it was about her rolling her eyes about the other doctor and then attempting to "shush" Chase every time he tattled on her that she was rolling her eyes. She even said about Chase, "I don't know what's wrong with him and why he's saying it! He's probably delusional or hallucinating or something." I just hope I'm here the next time they come by. Chase and I both were in awe of their improvisational skills and it was great to see him laughing like that.
Around lunch time my parents dropped by for an extended visit. Before they arrived, Chase was weighed and he has lost 3 lbs total. I have been begging him to eat, but he just doesn't feel like it. He's hardly been drinking either, but he is on an IV bag 24/7. Since my parents were here, I asked Chase what he wanted if anything, and he requested the Dannnon strawberry-banana smoothies. The cafeteria was out of them, so my mom and I (while the Chess battle was going on between him and my Dad) drove to Publix a few blocks away and stocked up. As I type this, he has already drank 3 of them - yeah! Not loaded in calories, but I did buy the kind with extra vitamins and antioxidants.
Today was a gorgeous day and the hospital has a very nice garden area with benches. I was going to get Chase out there, but given the issues he's had with his central line, we had to abandon that idea. I think we're supposed to get rain perhaps tomorrow. If not, I'll see if I can get him out there.
So, for now, it's 7:11pm and he just fell asleep. I've been trying to get him up by 10:00am so he'll go to bed earlier than 1 am!! I'm going to let him nap for a while, especially after the bandaging he endured. Maybe later we'll watch a movie.
As for William, since I'm not going home tonight (at Chase's request) he and Dad had a great day together from what I've heard. Tonight, they're having a boy's night out by having dinner with a friend and then back for a movie night of their own and perhaps some Xbox 360 battles. David's friend plays Xbox Live with both Chase and William and from what I've heard, he's got a pretty sweet set up for gaming with a screen and an LCD projector.
I hope everyone is able to take advantage of the beautiful Spring weather (should you have beautiful Spring weather where you are) and enjoy this weekend!
God Bless!
The O'Bannon Family.
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