Cincinnati Day 6 night

Ok now I'm irritated. The day started positively enough. Large bowel movement, good xray and the doctor said start clears! Kyle however had a different idea. He only sipped and refused most everything. Then Alan had to leave and go back to Idaho. I knew it was coming but I despaired none-the-less. I feel myself pulling away from the new reality - that I'm alone with a sick child in a strange city and I know no one except the doctors. Picking up all the responsibility for Kyle is a heavy weight. After a few mopy hours, cuddling Kyle and a cry I think I've accepted the unchangeable. I'm still irritable, but that's part of how I can walk up this mountain with such a heavy load. It was wonderful to have Alan here all this time. I really shared the burden of the hospitalization this time. It really helped. I love Alan so much. He is such a strength to me and I was so impressed by his "doctor mode". He handled things professionally. It was neat to watch. I have taken pride in my abilities to do the same and I'm doing that now. It was just nice to share that responsibility. Kyle also took significant amounts of comfort from his Dad. Now it's the Mom and Kyle show once again.

The rest of the day hasn't been much better. Our nurse changed four times. That'd be ok if it was the first shift it's happened on, but it's the third! We have had 6 different nurses in 24 hours! In all the shuffle he missed a few doses of pain meds and was hurting alot! Not cool.

Better yet Kyle developed a fever. The highest we measured so far was 101.4. Darn it. So cultures were drawn and we got a chest x ray. Don't know what it's from or the results. Hopefully it's something simple.

Kyle and I snuggled a bunch today. Have to say I needed it as much as he did. Today has been a really hard day. Probably the hardest so far. I'm going to sleep. I hope tomorrow's different.

Cincinnati day 6

Alan had to leave about 1:00pm. I felt the familiar cloud of anxiety settling over me. Sigh. I hope it's not to taxing to be on a lone vigil now. I hope no complications come up. But there isn't much to can do to stop them. Onward

Spring

Cincinnati Day 6

Well the weekend is over. The hospital is busy busy again. Long waits for the elevator, no parking in the huge garage extra security guards etc. An interesting trivia bit about concinnati children's hospital is that each elevator bank allows access to specific floors. In the entrance to the elevator bank sit a security guard that you have to check in with before you can access the elevator. Parents have a wrist band that allows access. It makes me feel safer and at the same time raises concern that there is a need for this level of security.

It's a big day for Kyle too. He had a bowel movement today! The xray looked beautiful! So Dr Leavitt said he can start drinking! If this goes well tomorrow he can start eating. Then possibly discharge Thursday, hang around Friday to make sure he is still ok then home!

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it looks positive. The only possible problem is that Kyles tummy is distended and he still has green g tube drainage. We will be watching that closely.

He got his first drink of water today and then said all done. We are ordering popcicles and diet sprite for him. Go buddy!

Radison Cincinnati.

The hotel is so big my ears pop in the elevator by the time I reach my room on the 15th floor!

Spring

Hello

Hi Nancy, this kind note is about the nicest thing I've read all day. Thank you for taking time to send me a note. It's great to hear about the workings of the ward. Sounds nice. I would have liked to be there for the Howes baby blessing. They are a really nice family. It is interesting to hear of your experiences with your daughter. It's such a unique experience to live through something like this. It seems people can't Appreciate the magnitude of this type of thing unless they have experienced it.  This is the 5th surgery  away from home for Kyle and over 30 hospital admits away from home for us.   It's far to familiar now. This time we seem to have fine tuned a few things and it's not too bad yet. Alan and I have taken shifts at the hospital so I haven't burned out. But Alan leaves today and I'm going to at the hospital day and night. No idea how much  longer we have to stay. Sigh. Anyway. I loved the email. Thank you!  Talk soon. 

Spring 

On Oct 9, 2011, at 11:10 PM, Nancy Christensen <nnancy411@hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi Spring.

Just read about Kyle's surgery.  So glad things seem to be going well. Your posts brought back so many memories for me.   Gary and I went through a similar experience with one of our children.  We know about living in the hospital, the noise, the worry, the stress, the feeling of helplessness.  We also know about the kindness of family and friends and nurses and volunteers.   Your lives become totally focused on your child, his pain, and the many details of hospital life.  You almost forget there is a world outside of the hospital.

We spent three weeks at Boston Children's Hospital with Elizabeth the first time, and about two weeks a few years later.  Her first surgery was ten hours and included (among many other things) the doctor taking a piece of her colon out.  I remember listening for those bowel sounds.  As I recall it was a full 7 days before she could even have a sip of water.  We learned she was allergic to latex and that morphine gave her scary hallucinations.  We also learned that she was an amazing, sunny, resilient child.  And as we sacrificed for her and watched her suffering and felt such love for her,  we caught a tiny glimpse of how much our Heavenly Father loves each of us.

I hope all continues to go well with Kyle's recovery. 

We did miss you at choir practice.  It was pretty sparse.  I think maybe Gary and Brother Wardle need to learn the art of phone invitations. 
But ready or not, we will sing next week.  We also had stake choir practice tonight.  That went pretty well although Lucy would still like more people there next week.  I like all three of our conductors.

Good fast and testimony meeting today.  Lots of kids as per usual.  Also a mother and son, ( Bainbridge?) who have been inactive for many years came and both bore their testimonies.  So did Shanna Ahlquist, Brother Cromwell, and Matt Howe.  The Howes blessed their baby boy.  It looked like there were four generations in the circle.  Very sweet.  The Hilton's had a baptism over the weekend.   President Alder was there although there was no official stake business.  Lots of people gone because of the school vacation days.   Cynthia taught the Relief Society lesson and did a great job as usual.  Your mother-in-law was introduced.

I think that is all the news of the day.

Feel free to give my name and number to your in-laws and parents.  I am close and could always run kids somewhere if needed.
Thoughts and prayers with you,

Love,
Nancy Christensen

Cincinnati Day 5

Kyles out of bed and has walked a ling way! He is enjoying his new race track. What a tough kid! We are so proud of you!

It's a sleepy slow day. Kyles been up and walking then slept a long time. After he woke, Kyle walked around a bit but he was really hurting. Took him to the playroom but he was hurting too much to enjoy it. Came back and got diladid and toredol. Bathed him then put on a movie. He is settling down nicely. He had a smear in his diaper and the nurse heard some bowel sounds. He's playing now. Still waiting for bowel function to return. Wishing we could speed it up. I repacked so Alan can take some stuff home tomorrow. Planning another movie tonight. Just a quiet Sunday.