We were hoping today would be an even better day than yesterday. Unfortunately, it wasn't. Although, it wasn't all bad. The Nutrition Team is all over me to make sure he's drinking a certain amount of milk and formula. So, this morning when he woke up I gave him 5 oz. of milk/formula and he took it great so an hour later I gave him some applesauce. Well, an hour after that and 20 minutes after getting his morning meds he blew chunks ALL OVER. It was all over him, all over the bed, all over his blankets etc. And this was literally 10 seconds before the entire Peds team came in for rounds. So, the room stunk like puke when they walked in and Dominic was still covered in it. Strange though, not one of the interns or residents thought to help or call in the nurse. They just stood there and watched me clean up puke....neat. Then came OT and PT who worked with him for an hour. An hour in which he cried and squeled the entire time. After that he slept about 2 hours and when he woke up he spiked a fever. I was starting to get concerned that the sore on his neck was infected or something was wrong from removing the EVD. Why else would you throw up, sleep a lot and have a fever if not for infection. The nurse gave him Motrin and that lowered the fever and he hasn't vomited since. He did have another ginormous poop, so that's good. We were still giving him suppositories and stool softeners. He has been pretty uncomfortable and seems to have some GI issues. I'm assuming it's from all the narcotics he's taking and I'm hoping once we go home it won't be an issue. All of the doctors think the vomiting was from the meds and being constipated. Today was the first day they gave him all his meds orally instead of through IV. The iron supplement can be pretty rough on the tummy, so they are going to spread out the meds a bit tomorrow. But if he throws up again or has another fever, they are going to order more blood work. As much as I want to go home, I refuse to leave this hospital until he is healthy and pooping normally. It would be one thing if we lived a half hour from here, but we're three hours away and if something bad happened, the last thing I want to do is end up in the ER in Grand Rapids trying to explain all that has happened to a 3rd year medical student. Where do I begin..."well, he just had half his brain removed..."
 |
| Good day for a long nap |
Dominic's personality is coming back more and more each day, but I've noticed that with it comes quite a bit of irritability. I've heard this is not unusual after a surgery like this, but it's strange to me. Dominic seems like a laid back kid anyway, but having seizures and being so drugged up the past 8 months made for a really quiet and chill baby. I haven't seen him so fussy before. I'm hoping this will pass, but if not, he's probably a lot more 'normal' now then he was before. Most babies aren't perfectly quiet and content to just sit in a seat and look at you all day :o)
 |
| Where all the magic happens |
So, Dr. Sood was hoping to send us home tomorrow, but with the fever today, they won't send him home until he's 24 hours fever free. So, we'll be here at least another night. Since I saw an end in sight, we checked out of the Ronald McDonald house today. That place is amazing! It's too bad we weren't able to take more advantage of it while we were here. Since he was only in ICU for 2 1/2 days, we only stayed there a couple nights, but I continued to use it as a place to shower, change and eat. We've been staying in his hospital room since he was moved to a regular floor. But it's awesome and Mike and I hope to be able to make meals or do something for our local Ronald McDonald House when we get home. It's a great place for families and they rely a lot on donations. Plus they are super nice! But I'm glad we're out of there, that means home isn't too far away! I'm praying that tomorrow he wakes up refreshed, hungry and happy.
 |
| Home away from home |
No comments:
Post a Comment