Wednesday, March 16, 2011: Day +27

Wednesday, March 16, 2011  Day +27

As I mentioned in my previous post, I woke up at 6:45 this morning and realized I had fallen asleep on the sofa with Chase.  It was something of a tight squeeze to say the least, but I felt like I slept pretty well in spite of it.  Chase certainly seemed to have had a peaceful night.  I don't recall him waking up coughing or waking up for any reason for that matter.

I got back in my own bed, but was only in it until around 8:00 am.  His nurse, Stephanie, was doing her morning vitals and woke up enough to realize I was no longer with him.  That didn't last long.  I was gently coerced into going back to the sofa with him where I fell asleep once again.

Carissa came in about 10:45 to say she would be back around 11:30, which really meant around 12:00.  With Chase, he works much better if you can give him a heads up about something he doesn't want to do. Today, he really didn't want to walk.  He complained that he was exhausted and had no energy.  He said they gave him too much Ambien the night before and his head was messed up.  He did look like he could fall over back asleep, but staying in bed simply wasn't happening.

Carissa came back a little after noon, and his walk with her was delayed a bit by Elise coming in to see him and Stephanie who took him completely off his pole!!  He put on his black jacket and his mask, which only left one eye visible if he lifted his head up enough.  He really didn't need to see though since he had an around my shoulders and had his other linked through hers.  She loves to kid around with him and said she felt like his prom date.  That got a little laugh out of him.  The subject of prom brought up dancing and demonstrated a few dances that I only wish I had video of! She's so funny.  A couple of them were the "sprinkler" and the "shopping basket".  I'll have to see if I can get her to demonstrate a couple of the others for me again.  Chase even gave her his version of the sprinkler.  If he's feeling up to doing something silly like that, he's got to be feeling better!

OT came by about the time Chase realized he had misunderstood Carissa earlier.  She said, "I'm going to push you to do seven laps today," to which he said, "Thank you."

He thought she wasn't going to push him.  Once he realized his mistake, he jokingly called her a "meanie".  Actually, both of us since I agreed with her. She then said she wasn't a meanie, she was a terrorist.  The OT woman asked, "What is the difference between a therapist and a terrorist?"  Her answer: "At least you can negotiate with a terrorist."  I think Chase agreed with her, but I loved it. I wouldn't be surprised if he called her a terrorist the next time he sees her.

Even though her rested a lot between each lap, he did complete all seven!  He even had his own cheering section at the nurse's station.  Cute nurses, too so what 15 year old boy wouldn't love that?

After laps, he sat in the chair for a while and napped shortly and then ate some yogurt.  He has not drank at all, which is worrying me some.  They want him consuming a liter a day since he's off the pole.  If not, they will put him back on it and it could delay his being discharged.

I think the Ambien is really messing with him.  He keeps telling me he feels very tired, but is also highly aggravated that he can't actually fall asleep.  I'm not sure why he's having this kind of a reaction to it, but hopefully this feeling won't persist.  If it is the Ambien, we'll find something else for him to take.

With the TV on, he napped a little while watching it.  Then he asked to finish the movie he started with his Dad, 127 Hours.  It turned out he did not have much left to watch.

He was again plagued with diarrhea.  This is really gross, but I told him what he produced looked like Brunswick stew.  His reply? "Yum."  Ewww!  It's an awful topic to describe one's "output", but the nurses and doctors ask, especially if he flushes it by accident.

I was walking to the family room to get Chase a drink when Brittany, one of the Child Life Specialists asked me about my drawings on Chase's door.  She was interested in what I used, so I showed her my crayons, which I ended up lending to another patient named Nikko.  Apparently, he likes to draw and wanted to decorate his door.  I was more than happy to share them with him, and saw his Dad outside of his door starting to draw the outline of his name a couple of hours later.  The topic of the crayons brought up the signs I have on his door, which the nurses and doctors have enjoyed.  Elise was trying to recall the sign I made to go above Chase's toilet last year.  He was having trouble, because of the Ativan, remembering NOT to use the toilet, but use the urinal pitcher instead.  I told them I would be happy to leave them with a PDF copy of it.  That's when Elise said, they'd love to have one for the "hat", too.   That's what is used to collect #2 and #1 adn #2 for girls.  I may have to see what I can do.  They're definitely fun to make when I'm in the right mood.

I got really frustrated tonight!! I was trying my best to respond to a couple of work emails, but I'm over my mailbox size limit and they wouldn't send.  I spent probably 30 to 45 minutes emptying out my Deleted Mail box, Inbox (some of it), and Junk Mail box, but I have to wait for the server to let me back in.  I even lost an entire email I had written!  I hit send and it didn't go, but it also did not save it.  So frustrating.

My mom came up tonight so I could spend the night with William.  I didn't end up leaving the hospital until really late though, partially because I got sidetracked with the aforementioned email issues.  Once I got to her house, I found William in the office playing Homefront, a new game that came out yesterday.  He has about run out of all of his birthday and Christmas money.  My Mom reminded him of that today, but he wasn't concerned.  He told her he would have all of the games he wanted because there weren't any other good ones coming out until later Fall, and it would be time for his birthday by then.  I guess he's got it figured out, but he better not come to me for a loan.  He'll have to go to Chase who has yet to spend a dime.

So, I'm sitting next to him, typing this, while he plays his game.  He's got the TV on as well, and still manages to make comments about it.  I don't know how he keeps up with both.  Oh, and he's talking to someone online, too.  He and Chase have gotten quite adept at quickly turning their microphone on and off.  Why? So, I don't accidentally say something that could be highly embarrassing.

Regardless of his divided attention, sometimes it's just nice to be in the same room with him for a change.

Still taking things one day at a time.

God Bless!