I think any parent who has spent any amount of time in the hospital with their child will tell you that there will be a day when you will reach your breaking point. For me (possibly us) this happened on Thursday. Nothing major happened it is just a result of: lack of sleep, lack of quality sleep, sleeping on a foam cushion, not being at home, being pregnant, living in a stressful environment, dealing with new nurses daily / nightly... I think you get it the list can go on and on and on.
Thursday started out normal – feeling good and positive about Mason’s recovery and by mid morning it became apparent that Mason’s drainage had significantly increased. By 10am Thursday morning he had put out the same amount of fluid as the previous 24 hours.
This increase pushed me over the edge. I thought that each day we were getting closer to being released and this was a set back that I wasn’t prepared for and one that I couldn’t control.
Greg has joked… “we are like dogs sitting in our kennel waiting for our owners to come let us out” unfortunately this is a joke that is kind of not a joke. We sit in his hospital room – we go on adventures – we read books – we watch movies but at the end of the day we come back to the same room we left.
Mason is doing EXCELLENT which makes this even harder. He says “I feel all better; lets go home” How do you explain to a 3 ½ year old that he cant do what he feels like he wants to do because he has chest tubes draining… He doesn’t care. He wants to leave!
Friday another big day for chest tube drainage. This made them concerned about his protein levels and dehydration. So they ran some tests and talked to us about putting an IV back in. (all I could think was great; another set back).
When his test results came back his levels proved to be lower than they would have liked however they gave us some time and the good news is as of right now – they are not putting his IV port back in. They believe that today we will see a drainage decrease and his levels will level out.
So far his drainage today is on track to be less than the last two days but still higher than3-4 days ago.
Let’s talk sleep: Mason is confused and some how we need to get him back on track. He is up every morning by 4am ready for breakfast; by 8am he is ready for a nap… nap at 8am are you kidding me?!?! Luckily we have convinced the doctors to skip vitals in the middle of the night and this has helped him sleep for a longer period of time. Last night Mason and I were able to get 4 hours of sleep un-interrupted (RECORD BREAKING).
If you think being in the hospital is relaxing and allows patients and parents to get rest – you are very inaccurate it is quite the opposite.
Thankful today for Mason’s smile, his laughter and his life. I know that we could be dealing with issues FAR worse than chest tube drainage and I am thankful we are not… I am reminding myself of this hourly so that I don’t lose focus on what we have to be grateful for.
Auntie and Mason... I dont know what it is about these two but some how when they are together someone ends up with food all over them
Thursday started out normal – feeling good and positive about Mason’s recovery and by mid morning it became apparent that Mason’s drainage had significantly increased. By 10am Thursday morning he had put out the same amount of fluid as the previous 24 hours.
This increase pushed me over the edge. I thought that each day we were getting closer to being released and this was a set back that I wasn’t prepared for and one that I couldn’t control.
Greg has joked… “we are like dogs sitting in our kennel waiting for our owners to come let us out” unfortunately this is a joke that is kind of not a joke. We sit in his hospital room – we go on adventures – we read books – we watch movies but at the end of the day we come back to the same room we left.
Mason is doing EXCELLENT which makes this even harder. He says “I feel all better; lets go home” How do you explain to a 3 ½ year old that he cant do what he feels like he wants to do because he has chest tubes draining… He doesn’t care. He wants to leave!
Friday another big day for chest tube drainage. This made them concerned about his protein levels and dehydration. So they ran some tests and talked to us about putting an IV back in. (all I could think was great; another set back).
When his test results came back his levels proved to be lower than they would have liked however they gave us some time and the good news is as of right now – they are not putting his IV port back in. They believe that today we will see a drainage decrease and his levels will level out.
So far his drainage today is on track to be less than the last two days but still higher than3-4 days ago.
Let’s talk sleep: Mason is confused and some how we need to get him back on track. He is up every morning by 4am ready for breakfast; by 8am he is ready for a nap… nap at 8am are you kidding me?!?! Luckily we have convinced the doctors to skip vitals in the middle of the night and this has helped him sleep for a longer period of time. Last night Mason and I were able to get 4 hours of sleep un-interrupted (RECORD BREAKING).
If you think being in the hospital is relaxing and allows patients and parents to get rest – you are very inaccurate it is quite the opposite.
Thankful today for Mason’s smile, his laughter and his life. I know that we could be dealing with issues FAR worse than chest tube drainage and I am thankful we are not… I am reminding myself of this hourly so that I don’t lose focus on what we have to be grateful for.
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