We did X-rays yesterday afternoon to make sure there is nothing else going on that we should be aware of, that's when they determined he had ileus (sleeping bowel). I did get him up and walking again in the early evening. The good news is I’m hearing him pass a little gas this morning, and he's still being so polite, saying excuse me.
He did very well with the X-rays, still a model patient. Returning to our room we passed a posse of Hospital Police, they had two women standing against the wall and they were taking their pictures. I'm not sure what they did but I was a little envious of their mood, happy, happy, happy, just giddy and excited to pose for pictures (which I'm thinking won't be used for a good thing, but they sure were enjoying the moment).
I actually got Austin off of the History Channel last night, we watched Toy Story 3 and The Little Mermaid. He was tired so lights in the room went out right after Little Mermaid ended. Shortly after lights out I heard something strange like he dropped something, got up saw nothing on the floor so I just forgot about it. A little after ten the Nurse came in and noticed blood on his hands.
I guess Austin decided he didn't need that IV port that wasn't being used in his left hand and pulled all the tape off and took it out. Never a whimper, it was in his pink bucket. Of course, he heard me early in the day asking the nurse if we needed to leave that port in since it wasn't being used and she replied that they leave them as a pre-caution, a just in case they need them later. I guess I should be a little more mindful of what I do say in front of Austin, but it's a little difficult since we're roommates.
In the meantime, the person I'll call Ned, a new resident in our neighborhood was having a moan fest, sorry for his pain but it reminded me of two things, how unbelievably strong/brave Austin has been and home (now don't be thinking Jerry's a moaner, it reminded me of a couple of cats in the neighborhood). Austin has never moaned, we may have had one or two whimpers, but for the most part we don't hear his pain yet occasionally see it in his eyes. I believe I've discovered another mechanism that might help us judge his pain level, his heart rate when they do vitals, if it's up I believe that's a good indication he's in discomfort. He is still working towards his end game, telling everyone he's fine, cause he wants to go home.
There are many sounds I'm not going to miss like code blues or reds, IV alarms, and Christmas music being pumped into the public hallways 24/7, sorry I just haven't been in the mood. We still enjoy the lullaby music that is played when a baby is born.
I won't miss typing in the dark, Austin, Mickey and Belle are resting peacefully again.
There are other things I won't miss either, like the smell of the hospital, it's just not feeling or smelling like home. It will be nice not to be woken for a vitals check at 2 am in the morning, it'll be nice to be able to sleep in past 5:30 am (with the last set of nighttime vitals I just don't fall back asleep). It will be so nice to not have limited food options, might be a long time once I leave here before I step into a Subway or Biggby again.
Jerry offered to stay last night but Austin wants mom just like any typical kid will want mom over dad if they are sick. I guess we do a better job of kissing there boo-boos. Today though I'll put on my Drill Sargent hat and push him a little harder, get him moving more.
Well time to end this chapter, I do tend to get a little wordy. Have a wonderful day folks, enjoy the world, the people around you. Keeping all the hockey families in my thoughts, hoping for a safe journey home from their showcases.
Hugs, Sally
No comments:
Post a Comment