Monday, June 9, 2008

Post-op Day 17

What started out as a pretty awful morning is turning out to be a decent afternoon.

I got a late start on getting to the hospital and when I got here I couldn't find Dan and Drew. His bed was in a different room, but all our stuff was in our old room and they were nowhere to be found. The nurse told me that they were working on his room and we'd be able to put his bed back in there later, but we could leave our things. About five minutes later she came in to say they wanted Drew for an echo. So I checked every floor, including the roof and couldn't find them. I finally found them in the playroom (I had checked there first, we must have missed each other on the elevators).

We went for the echo and Drew had an awful time. He screamed and cried and got so agitated. It was very difficult and I had to take a break. Which is unusual for me, so you know it was bad. I had a bit of a breakdown and talked to child life to see if there was anything they could do. I asked them to be present for the next dressing change and then requested that the doctors give Drew ativan and fentanyl for dressing changes. They also called a child psychiatrist to come and evaluate him. I guess if you cry enough they'll do what you ask. Because we had the surgical fellow do the dressing change and the child life specialist was present too. The ativan worked like magic and he did SO much better through that procedure. Afterwards he went to the playroom and once it closed he came back to our room but has been playing candy land and hi ho cherry-o. He seems like his old self right now.

He does still have a fever and now a runny nose. So far his temp hasn't been very high and his chest x-ray still looks good, so I'm hoping it's just some little cold or something that will go away quickly. We are currently on day 8 of a 10 day course of antibiotics and are hoping his wound will heal quickly so we don't have to stay much past Wednesday. Only time will tell...

16 comments:

Valerie said...

Sounds good!

To all the Himmelberger fans don't forget to check my blog for the Drew Raffle......

It ends when Drew is home!

Anonymous said...

Glad your day is getting a bit brighter...
I hope and pray for the continue health of drew as well as patience for all four of you.
You and Dan are SO strong, I know it doesn't always feel that way.

Love to you all,
Bekah

Kathy said...

There is a light...there is a light...you will go home soon!
I wish I was there to meet you FINALLY...and to give you a big fat hug!!!

It's SO hard for people to understand what these long hospital stays do to the kids....and the parents...it's SO emotionally, physically, just...draining...

YEAH for ativan...that's Isaac's drug of choice!!! (mine too if they'd share it with me!)

We'll continue prayers for NO fevers, NO snot, and HOME BY WEDNESDAY!!!!

Lots of love,
Kathy

Kate said...

i'm sorry your morning was hard, punkin. you've been needing the release of a mini-meltdown for a couple of days now, so i'm glad you just did it and even got some good results after the whole thing. and good for you for getting drew the ativan and the child life people to help; as of last night things were getting a bit ridiculous around the dressing change. my fingers are still itching! love to you all, ttys.

Carol Kohlman said...

Thanks for keeping us updated. I'm thinking about you everyday and it's so nice to see all the pictures, helps me imagine how things are going.

Love to you all...

Jane said...

"Carol" is me! Signed in on my step-mom's account, sorry...

Anonymous said...

Way to go, I'm so proud of you for telling the doctors/nurses to give Drew some medicinal relief. Keep going by your instincts and remember you know best.

I heard that Ava is having a great time with Heather and John, so you don't need to worry about her right now.

Please tell Drew that I already got him 2 new sharks, a whale and a dolphin and they will be waiting for him when he gets home. He asked me to get Ava a pink shark, but they only had pink seahorses, so I got her that and also a ladybug.

Love you all soooooo much and miss you already.

Mom

Katie Scott said...

Sorry to hear that you had a rough morning, but I am so happy that it got better!! Good job for being such an advocate for Drew. He is so lucky to have you for his mommy! I still maintain that you should be a nurse for your next career...You could probably skip a lot of the classes from all this real world training you have had!

Kristen Ewers said...

I am so glad that you are Drew's mommy. He's lucky to have a mom who is willing to raise a stink for him....really! Poor kid, poor mommy. I'm thankful they pulled through for you, though. Would a visit from Shae help cheer him up? We are planning to come visit again on Wednesday. Oh, and if you have any of that melt down left in you, you can throw it on me, I can handle it!
Praying all the time...
Kristen

Kacie said...

Encouraging to hear that the end is HOPEFULLY coming soon! I am sure you are all DONE with procedures and such. I can only imagine how much Drew hates every little poke and prod right now. Poor guy. Hang in there. Know that when you are weak, God is strong. He can carry you through to the end. love and hugs, Kacie

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I'm going to be selfish for a second and just share with you that I miss you. I think about you everyday and will be SO happy when we can hangout together again, soon. This has made me realize that you and Dan are going to have to live in Sac forever because I would be pretty sad if you moved away.

Anyways...still praying and wishing you were here.

You get huge kudos for letting Dan go to Tahoe. Your an awesome wife, and an awesome mommy for sticking up for Drew.

Sending you my "holy kisses",
Jen

Gina and the Gang said...

Oh my goodness! You are talking of HOME! I am so excited, even if the rough day took it's toll. You are so normal to have all those feelings, and so is Drew. The wonderful thing about children is that they are incredibly forgiving, sometimes forgetting, and so resilient! Just think, this is probably the last major intervention your boy will need! Go 100% saturations!

The Portas said...

HOME SOON! I can feel it! I know how draining this all can be on you as parents, you as a family, Drew as the patient. It is tough... and I am praying that you will be out of there very soon so you can start to emotionally heal from all of this. You are doing such a wonderful job!

LOTS of prayers being sent your way!! xoxoxo

Laura said...

way to go for being the best mom ever! this must be sooooooooo trying, but know that you are strong, and capable, and amazing. so is drew, and so is dan. the end is in sight, and you all will be home before you know it! love you all!

Anonymous said...

Hang in there! You guys have done great so far and you will be home soon!! Love you!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Andrea
You are such an awesome momma and wife for sure!! Tony said it was so great to have Dan be a part of his bach weekend. Now I am just counting down the days until you and I both can get some much needed rest and margarita's in Tahoe for my bach weekend. I am so excited to here that Wednesday is a possible day to come home. I am going to focus my prayers on Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday. Sending our love
Kristina Tony and Tommy