Not much to report. I am hoping no news is good news. If all is going well, Charlotte is on her way to surgery to repair the central line.
An update on the insurance front: Humana sent me a form letter stating they had received our notice of appeal. This is what the State Insurance Commission (the Ombudsman) sent to Humana on our behalf. So the good news is that they have receieved our initial complaint and have responded. I spoke with the Ombudsman yesterday (don't you just LOVE that word???) and he is helping me draft an additional response. We also have a letter from her neurosurgeon and I am in the process of getting one from Dr. Khan. He has been "out" this week so that is taking some work. The insurance commission has great experience with these situations and have been wonderfully patient throughout this process. It's amazing how responsive insurance companies get when they are involved!!
A big thank you to (Virginia) Senator Ryan McDougle's office as well. They have been following Charlotte's story thanks to a letter sent by my mom on our behalf and have also contacted Humana on our behalf. Hopefully because of all this "response" Humana will have no choice but to act in Charlotte's best interest.
In national news, I received form letters from Senator Warner and Rep. Cantor's offices. Our good friends Lee and Susan Chambers actually received a PERSONAL response from Senator Warner's office regarding our situation but I haven't heard the result of that yet.
I truly believe in the power of our government to work for the people. We live in such a diverse nation and it is so difficult to make a system that works for everyone, but it is amazing to me how responsive our leaders CAN be when given the opportunity. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's just about all I have to say about that..."
Signing off,
Rachel
Now we have LOTS of news...
The central line surgery went well although it took much longer than expected and they gave Granny the royal run-around because a "parent was not present" (sorry folks...mom and dad have to do something to make a living). They were VERY aware that we would not be there and I had consented to everything ahead of time, but in true hospital fashion, one hand doesn't always seem to know what the other is doing.
Her central line is now in and installed in a new place (in the center of her chest) which we hope will be a better placement. She has been eating all afternoon and seems to be in a good mood. At the moment she is in Caillou Land. She's been quite the couch potato today but that's ok. I guess we'll go for a walk later.
As of 3 PM this afternoon, we have started Day A of her chemo since her methotrexate level has dropped so with fingers crossed and hopeful hearts we are aiming for a discharge from the hospital late Thursday or early Friday. Hooray!
My car is now fixed and my stepdad gave me a (very early) birthday present by paying for the repairs (THANKS!). My inspection was due this month too and all seems to be in order so hopefully no more car problems for a while.
I also faxed our insurance grievance off to the Insurance Commission along with Dr. Tye's support letter. We shall see what happens....
That's all of our news for now, I guess.
Rachel
A Final Update:
Just feeling the urge to write today so I hope folks will understand the multiple updates they are getting in their inbox in the last 24 hours... and pardon what will probably be a bit of a rant/vent on my part but this is my forum...
Charlotte is resting right now. They forgot to bring her dinner (again) but it doesn't seem to matter as she was very happy with popcorn, milkshake, and popsicles. She is looking very gray today (the gray hoodie dress that has currently become her favorite article of clothing probably doesn't help). The dark circles seem to grow by the hour under her eyes and it just breaks my heart. We had to change her dressing where the new line was inserted. It had bled a little and nurse Lauren felt it looked "yucky" (I concurred) and we worried about the possibility of infection. So Charlotte endured one of her least favorite things: the dressing change.
You know, everyone on Facebook lately is listing their "top 5's" (beers, tv shows, movies, celebrity crushes).
Here are Charlotte's Top 5 Crappy Things to Happen to Me:
0. Inserting a Catheter
1. Any kind of needle prick or shot or IV insertion
2. Having my Dressing Changed
3. Taking Docusate (or any other oral medication)
4. Having a doctor or nurse interrupt my TV shows to talk to me or do something to me
I think that about covers it. And here is the saddest part: these things have become a part of her REGULAR life. They are so regular, they are routine to Charlotte, her parents, and others who work with her on a daily basis. They are so routine that my 3 (going on 13) year old daughter is learning medical terms daily. Not just the word itself, but she knows what they MEAN. Man, it sucks.
She should be spending her days playing at school, taking classes at Romp n' Roll, running around the yard, picking out her Easter dress, learning to play soccer....NOT THIS CRAP!!!
Everyone keeps saying, "I don't know how you do it." and I agree. I have no idea. I just go one day at a time. I put one foot in front of the other. I force myself to get out of bed in the morning. Sometimes I cry myself to sleep. Sometimes I cry sitting at traffic lights for no apparent reason. I force myself to go to work, to pay the bills, to make another to-do list, to check off items on my to-do list. Why? What other choice do I have? I can't let my life implode. I can't give up. I have to keep going for Charlotte's sake. And so I do...
And yet, there are days and moments when I am genuinely, truly happy. There are moments when I laugh, smile, find comfort, and experience joy. They seem fewer and far-er between these days. They are also often tinged with that bittersweet taste of a Sadness That Will Not Go Away.
The problem is, how do you react to the words, "How are you doing?" Compared to what? Compared to 5 minutes ago? Last week? Last year? My "new normal" changes so frequently that I'm getting ready to ban the word from my vocabulary.
I try to look on the bright side. And I see it. I see that 6 months from now, we should be free from treatments. We will hopefully be cancer free and into what will become the new routine of less and less frequent doctor visits. I look forward to the day when Charlotte will no longer be a Cancer Patient but a Cancer Survivor. But that bright light is SO far away right now. I can't even plan events in my life a month from now without a "well, we will see" or "perhaps". Because who knows how long the next round of chemo will take? Or when we will end up unexpectedly in the hospital because her blood counts bottom out?
But right now it hurts. My heart hurts. It aches for Charlotte, for Roger, for me. For everyone in our family and our circle of friends who have been touched...no...dope-slapped upside the head...by this crisis. It hurts for all of Charlotte's peers. Her friends and her playmates who ask daily, "When will Charlotte be better?" Not understanding why a kid their own age isn't well when "sick" usually means 3 or 4 days in bed at home.
I am never one to sensationalize tragedy. Yes, I have my dramatic side but on the whole, I work to minimize drama when it comes to stuff like this. The "person-first language" person in me says that she is NOT a victim. She is NOT suffering from Cancer. We are not "those people" that you see on the TV news (or from whose stories they make Lifetime movies). And yet here we are.
How did we get here? Unless you've been here (and some of you, my dear readers, have been here. Or you are HERE RIGHT NOW. Having your own tragic experience. And for that I am both enormously sorry and simultaneously enormously grateful for the empathy, advice, and comfort which you have poured in my general direction). BUT unless you've been here, it is virtually impossible to describe. My life had been touched by sadness and tragedy before. I had definitely felt pain in my three decades on this planet. But this one takes the cake. It's almost indescribable.
Yes, for everything there is a reason. For everything there is a purpose under Heaven. That which has come before has prepared me to be the person I am today: to face this crisis...this SITUATION as best I can. And someday....years from now...I will look back and say THIS was the reason why Charlotte had Cancer. Sometimes that is still not comforting.
So I think my time to vent is up. I must rest, must do payroll, must end this post before it becomes the NEVER ENDING STORY.
Thanks for listening. Thanks for letting me vent. Thanks for smiling at me every day and asking about my daughter. Thanks for planning fundraisers and parties in her honor. Thanks for gifts of toys, time, money, Starbucks Cards, handmade angels, and understanding. Thanks for bringing your kids to play at Romp n' Roll (bring more! :-)) Thanks for making connections that get us in touch with the Insurance Commissioner. Thanks for praying, for sending positive vibes, for sharing our story. Thanks for crying. Thanks for making me laugh. Thanks for cleaning my house, doing my laundry, cooking meals, feeding the cats. Thanks for organizing my pantry, raking the leaves, planting new plants. Thanks for stepping in to plan conferences and take over school contracts. Thanks for Easter baskets and homemade cookies. Thanks for all the things I haven't the energy to say thank you for. Thanks for tolerating my horrible grammar in this post.
Tout Finis!
Showing posts with label central line. Show all posts
Showing posts with label central line. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Parents Have to Be Advocates for Their Children
Just about 4am (as you can read intelligent CJ lover) and we just had an interesting experience. It's also reason #42 why parents have to be advocates for their children.
Because the central line pulled out, they had to put a traditional IV line in her hand-not a lot of fun. When I got here everyone informed me they would have to poke her again to draw blood for her labs and, of course, they couldn't do it at any kind of sane hour, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! They have to do it at 3am because that's when they have to check her numbers.
So,
I settle in at around 11pm to see what kind of sleep I can get from this very noisy room and slightly lopsided chair knowing what's coming at 3.
Now being the kind of guy who gets a little freaked out about oversleeping when there's an early wake-ups time, I was up just about every hour until 3 when, as usual, nothing happened. (Hospital standard time). The nurse came in to do vitals and in the back of my mind, I was actually hoping they had decided to wait. No luck. On her way out the door after the vitals check, she warned me it would be about 10 minutes.
It was more like 7. Which is good because it didn't give me the chance to fall back asleep.
So,
in comes the nurse and another woman, presumedly (sp?) to hold Charlotte down. Of course, that's my unpleasant jorb. (yes I said, "jorb." That's the next trivia challenge...) Turns out the other woman was the one doing the actual poking. That, believe it or not, made me feel better as the night nurse, nice as she is, doesn't seem all that secure doing procedures above and beyond taking vitals and hooking up drugs to the pumps. The other nurse, Mary, came down from the PICU and we all know how highly trained they are down there. She said she gets called out to do draws all the time because it's so difficult to access little veins.
So,
I at least feel like CJ is in capable hands. I get on the bed next to her and shield her eyes as they lights go on and the "big rubber band" gets tied onto her other arm, which she doesn't like and lets us know. I mentioned out loud that they should have some kind of topical cream that would numb the pain right at the site. (There's a really bad movie in there somewhere with Phil Hartman and Sinbad involving liquid novacaine and mistaken idenity.) Can anyone tell me why they don't use it in hospitals for little pokes and things like that?
I'm thinking, "This is REALLY going to suck. I'm getting ready to help them inflict more pain on my baby and she'll be wide awake screaming and I'm never going to get a shower." (Yeah, selfish, I know)
Then I remember something the night nurse mentioned, totally in passing just after Rachel left, about pulling blood from the IV line and how she was scared to try it because it might pull out the IV which would be far more tramatic for Charlotte. Almost in desperation, I said, "So there's no way you can do this through the IV line?" Nurse Mary from the PICU looked up like the lightbulb went off and said something like, "Hey, let's try that."
Bless her and all her progeny from here to the mext millenium. It worked and all CJ had was some minor discomfort from the "big rubber band." She was out again in about a minute, and I'm not exaggerating.
Of course, I'm wide awake and about to get my wonderful shower.
So let that be a lesson to you. Ask those "dumb" questions and be the obnoxious, persistant parent.
In my hyper emotional state, I think "Mary" just made it to the list of potential names for future children/pets behind Tye, Joanne, Kahn (only as a Trekkie pseudonym), Melissa, etc...(about 10 others)
Speaking of that, we forgot to mention that Charlotte went by the PICU for a walk and just happened the see Nurse Melissa and another nurse, whose name I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten, near the front doors. They certainly remembered her and came out to fawn (faun?) all over her. She didn't mind.
So,
After having Leah's death weighing pretty heavily on me for most of the evening, we had a sliver of a good thing happen. It's all we can ask for, right?
The spring fling at Primrose went smashingly and a good chunk of money was raised for A.S.K. in CJ's name. Thanks to all there including the teenage volunteers and especially to Karen Giles who allowed me to leave and go perform with John Robison from Southern Horizon at the Confederate Heritage Days celebration down at the Old Chester Courthouse. (There's some irony in there somewhere)
An aside: Although I really love playing the music and I'm becoming a student of the history behind the "War of Northern Aggression," I think some folks need to realize that the Civil War is over. I used to think that sort of thing was just reserved for geeks like me who got caught up in the Renaissance Faire mentality. (Man, I loved those days!)
Hey, did I mention we're having a head shaving party Friday?!? :-) The golf tourny and other various fun-raisers are being planned and I'm blissfully unaware of most of the details. Just point and tell me to go, I'll be there. You'll probably know about it before I do.
Wesley Berry's family (who we met here) is having a golf tournament Friday April 17 up Cameron Hills Golf Links in King George County. Romp n' Roll is going to sponsor a hole and donate some prizes. Here's the link to a story about him:
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04032009/455786
Go play a round for us.
It's now 5:00am and I still haven't showered. Here I go.
A Quick Update before going home for the day:
It was a great day at Romp n' Roll and Roger and I have been busy all day. Roger is now up in Caroline County launching our Adventure Classes at Ms. Alisons!
Charlotte is doing ok from what I understand. We FINALLY got a call from the surgeons asking for permission to re-insert her Central Line and that will happen first thing tomorrow morning. I don't have news on her methotrexate levels but I understand she was peeing like a racehorse today and eating well. Not sure if she's pooped.
Thanks to the Masseys for visiting with Easter Baskets. Riley's second grade class actually made baskets for all the kids on the floor and delivered them to Child Life today. What a sweet gift!
Now it's time for me to call gramps and get picked up from work. Did I mention that the alternator in my car died? More joy to the world.
On a positive note, I spent the morning running errands and got to listen to my This American Life podcast which was full of fabulous stories (as always). And through the rain I got to see a pretty cool rainbow while trekking down I-295. Plus I got to hang out with some pretty cool kids at Romp n' Roll today! At least I can find some joy in the day.
Time to sign off...my chariot awaits.
Rachel
Because the central line pulled out, they had to put a traditional IV line in her hand-not a lot of fun. When I got here everyone informed me they would have to poke her again to draw blood for her labs and, of course, they couldn't do it at any kind of sane hour, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! They have to do it at 3am because that's when they have to check her numbers.
So,
I settle in at around 11pm to see what kind of sleep I can get from this very noisy room and slightly lopsided chair knowing what's coming at 3.
Now being the kind of guy who gets a little freaked out about oversleeping when there's an early wake-ups time, I was up just about every hour until 3 when, as usual, nothing happened. (Hospital standard time). The nurse came in to do vitals and in the back of my mind, I was actually hoping they had decided to wait. No luck. On her way out the door after the vitals check, she warned me it would be about 10 minutes.
It was more like 7. Which is good because it didn't give me the chance to fall back asleep.
So,
in comes the nurse and another woman, presumedly (sp?) to hold Charlotte down. Of course, that's my unpleasant jorb. (yes I said, "jorb." That's the next trivia challenge...) Turns out the other woman was the one doing the actual poking. That, believe it or not, made me feel better as the night nurse, nice as she is, doesn't seem all that secure doing procedures above and beyond taking vitals and hooking up drugs to the pumps. The other nurse, Mary, came down from the PICU and we all know how highly trained they are down there. She said she gets called out to do draws all the time because it's so difficult to access little veins.
So,
I at least feel like CJ is in capable hands. I get on the bed next to her and shield her eyes as they lights go on and the "big rubber band" gets tied onto her other arm, which she doesn't like and lets us know. I mentioned out loud that they should have some kind of topical cream that would numb the pain right at the site. (There's a really bad movie in there somewhere with Phil Hartman and Sinbad involving liquid novacaine and mistaken idenity.) Can anyone tell me why they don't use it in hospitals for little pokes and things like that?
I'm thinking, "This is REALLY going to suck. I'm getting ready to help them inflict more pain on my baby and she'll be wide awake screaming and I'm never going to get a shower." (Yeah, selfish, I know)
Then I remember something the night nurse mentioned, totally in passing just after Rachel left, about pulling blood from the IV line and how she was scared to try it because it might pull out the IV which would be far more tramatic for Charlotte. Almost in desperation, I said, "So there's no way you can do this through the IV line?" Nurse Mary from the PICU looked up like the lightbulb went off and said something like, "Hey, let's try that."
Bless her and all her progeny from here to the mext millenium. It worked and all CJ had was some minor discomfort from the "big rubber band." She was out again in about a minute, and I'm not exaggerating.
Of course, I'm wide awake and about to get my wonderful shower.
So let that be a lesson to you. Ask those "dumb" questions and be the obnoxious, persistant parent.
In my hyper emotional state, I think "Mary" just made it to the list of potential names for future children/pets behind Tye, Joanne, Kahn (only as a Trekkie pseudonym), Melissa, etc...(about 10 others)
Speaking of that, we forgot to mention that Charlotte went by the PICU for a walk and just happened the see Nurse Melissa and another nurse, whose name I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten, near the front doors. They certainly remembered her and came out to fawn (faun?) all over her. She didn't mind.
So,
After having Leah's death weighing pretty heavily on me for most of the evening, we had a sliver of a good thing happen. It's all we can ask for, right?
The spring fling at Primrose went smashingly and a good chunk of money was raised for A.S.K. in CJ's name. Thanks to all there including the teenage volunteers and especially to Karen Giles who allowed me to leave and go perform with John Robison from Southern Horizon at the Confederate Heritage Days celebration down at the Old Chester Courthouse. (There's some irony in there somewhere)
An aside: Although I really love playing the music and I'm becoming a student of the history behind the "War of Northern Aggression," I think some folks need to realize that the Civil War is over. I used to think that sort of thing was just reserved for geeks like me who got caught up in the Renaissance Faire mentality. (Man, I loved those days!)
Hey, did I mention we're having a head shaving party Friday?!? :-) The golf tourny and other various fun-raisers are being planned and I'm blissfully unaware of most of the details. Just point and tell me to go, I'll be there. You'll probably know about it before I do.
Wesley Berry's family (who we met here) is having a golf tournament Friday April 17 up Cameron Hills Golf Links in King George County. Romp n' Roll is going to sponsor a hole and donate some prizes. Here's the link to a story about him:
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/042009/04032009/455786
Go play a round for us.
It's now 5:00am and I still haven't showered. Here I go.
A Quick Update before going home for the day:
It was a great day at Romp n' Roll and Roger and I have been busy all day. Roger is now up in Caroline County launching our Adventure Classes at Ms. Alisons!
Charlotte is doing ok from what I understand. We FINALLY got a call from the surgeons asking for permission to re-insert her Central Line and that will happen first thing tomorrow morning. I don't have news on her methotrexate levels but I understand she was peeing like a racehorse today and eating well. Not sure if she's pooped.
Thanks to the Masseys for visiting with Easter Baskets. Riley's second grade class actually made baskets for all the kids on the floor and delivered them to Child Life today. What a sweet gift!
Now it's time for me to call gramps and get picked up from work. Did I mention that the alternator in my car died? More joy to the world.
On a positive note, I spent the morning running errands and got to listen to my This American Life podcast which was full of fabulous stories (as always). And through the rain I got to see a pretty cool rainbow while trekking down I-295. Plus I got to hang out with some pretty cool kids at Romp n' Roll today! At least I can find some joy in the day.
Time to sign off...my chariot awaits.
Rachel
Monday, March 23, 2009
We Are Home
Yes, we are home.
Our day yesterday was going great, Charlotte was eating like a pig (and I mean that in the best possible way!) and slowly but surely, the Docs were checking her off the lists, she was getting detached from the various lines and tubes, and the car was packed with everything but us. This was about 12:30pm.
Then the nurse thoughtfully asked if I wanted her to change CJ's central line dressing before we left. At first I thought no because we're getting pretty good at doing it from home, I didn't want to be wasteful since she wasn't due for a few days, and, most importantly, Charlotte didn't want it done at the hospital. She wanted me to do it at home. She was pretty emphatic about it in fact. But then something tugged me back and I changed my mind. I was thinking, "they're professionals, I might learn by watching her do it, and all that.
Well we started the process and Charlotte was fussing and fuming over what was about to happen. She would only let Daddy take off the dressing and as I did, we noticed something odd. Turns out the stitch that held the line in place on the outside had come out. Not sure how and it didn't look like it had torn.
Well, we immediately covered it back up and paged the pediatric surgeon on call. He was up there very quickly and they decided to put in one stitch and order a chest x-ray just to make sure the line hadn't moved too much.
They set her up with a dose of morphine and after a bit, that glassy look took over but once the fireworks started, it was like they had given her chewable aspirin. She was wide awake.
In another example of the doc either seeming to be thinking more about the procedure than the patient or lacking the language skills to say, "here we go. Make sure she doesn't move," he prepared a needle with Lidocane and proceeded to try to inject it into the spot next to the line.
That's when CJ became fully alert again.
She actually rolled into the shot making it go further under the skin and the surprised doc made some kind of "woah" sound and pulled the needle out. Which means he had to stick her again. We were all ready this time and even though she jerked again, he kept the needle in and delivered the dose with Charlotte screaming all the while. I believe the most repeated phrase was, "I don't like that!"
As usual, I was the one holding her hands up and out of the way telling her it had to be done and that nobody liked it but it had to be done because I couldn't fix this at home.
I had to hold her hands the entire time and after a while, she started crying something new that I couldn't understand. Then finally, Nurse Andrea, who is rather boisterous but we love her, translated. "Daddy, you're hurting my hand." I didn't realize how tightly I had been squeezing her hands until then. I had been trying to be strong, cool, and collected for CJ but I got found out. I've said it before, it's hard to hold your baby down while others inflict pain on her. Terrible, actually, and it showed in my hands. (You should see me fly)
By the time the doc got around to the stitching, the skin was numbed and she didn't feel a thing and I wasn't letting her watch. She even complained once that she couldn't see the TV in the middle of it all so I knew her attention had shifted. Don't worry, she was still crying a lot.
Finally the stitch was in and the nurses officially changed the dressing. Unfortunately, the needle sticks made her bleed a little and they couldn't get it completely cleaned up before they put down the cover so we're going to have to change it again in a couple days (right on schedule if I had left without trying to change it in the hospital). Good thing we checked it when we did.
After the hubbub died down and she was resting comfortably again, and as we waited for the x-ray guy to come, she said the most amazing thing. "Daddy, I still like you." That was nice to hear.
Next came the chest x-ray. She didn't like the look of the big machine being wheeled into her room but she had had an x-ray when she checked in so she was easily convinced that it wasn't going to hurt. The tech was pretty good to so it didn't take long at all.
Then it was wait for about an hour for the film to be developed and looked at to make sure the line was still in place. We chilled in her bed and I actually dosed for a bit. Everything had been taken to the car so I didn't have a lot to do. I even told the catering services woman not to worry about lunch because I was sure we'd be gone. Shoulda knowed better. At least we still had leftover pizza.
Thanks to Heather from Child Life who did a masterful job of keeping CJ occupied while I went to get coffee or the little daddy's room.
FINALLY, we got the all clear, I dressed CJ as fast as I could and we were outta there. I was half expecting someone to come chasing after me, "Wait! There's something else!" It was like one of those war movies where the people who the NAZIs have been looking for are passing through the last checkpoint before freedom and everyone is on the edge of their seats wondering if they're going to get caught.
OK, so maybe it wasn't that bad but it did make me think of it.
So after planning to leave the hospital around 1, we didn't get home until just past 6. Made the homecoming that much nicer. Now we turn right around and go back for round two in a week and a half. (One day at a time.)
Charlotte's Devon came by and visited for a while before she has to go back to school. Even with Devon wearing a mask, it was a very good visit.
Charlotte got a bath and we all slept soundly for once. When Rachel and I came down this morning, CJ was waiting for us with a nice full diaper and gave me another one later. BONUS POOPIE!
This morning was very nice, everybody got a little bit done, CJ actually got to see Dora on Nickelodeon, a rare treat.
Now I have to go do a class at Romp n' Roll and load up the car for RNR2Go tomorrow in Ladysmith.
Our day yesterday was going great, Charlotte was eating like a pig (and I mean that in the best possible way!) and slowly but surely, the Docs were checking her off the lists, she was getting detached from the various lines and tubes, and the car was packed with everything but us. This was about 12:30pm.
Then the nurse thoughtfully asked if I wanted her to change CJ's central line dressing before we left. At first I thought no because we're getting pretty good at doing it from home, I didn't want to be wasteful since she wasn't due for a few days, and, most importantly, Charlotte didn't want it done at the hospital. She wanted me to do it at home. She was pretty emphatic about it in fact. But then something tugged me back and I changed my mind. I was thinking, "they're professionals, I might learn by watching her do it, and all that.
Well we started the process and Charlotte was fussing and fuming over what was about to happen. She would only let Daddy take off the dressing and as I did, we noticed something odd. Turns out the stitch that held the line in place on the outside had come out. Not sure how and it didn't look like it had torn.
Well, we immediately covered it back up and paged the pediatric surgeon on call. He was up there very quickly and they decided to put in one stitch and order a chest x-ray just to make sure the line hadn't moved too much.
They set her up with a dose of morphine and after a bit, that glassy look took over but once the fireworks started, it was like they had given her chewable aspirin. She was wide awake.
In another example of the doc either seeming to be thinking more about the procedure than the patient or lacking the language skills to say, "here we go. Make sure she doesn't move," he prepared a needle with Lidocane and proceeded to try to inject it into the spot next to the line.
That's when CJ became fully alert again.
She actually rolled into the shot making it go further under the skin and the surprised doc made some kind of "woah" sound and pulled the needle out. Which means he had to stick her again. We were all ready this time and even though she jerked again, he kept the needle in and delivered the dose with Charlotte screaming all the while. I believe the most repeated phrase was, "I don't like that!"
As usual, I was the one holding her hands up and out of the way telling her it had to be done and that nobody liked it but it had to be done because I couldn't fix this at home.
I had to hold her hands the entire time and after a while, she started crying something new that I couldn't understand. Then finally, Nurse Andrea, who is rather boisterous but we love her, translated. "Daddy, you're hurting my hand." I didn't realize how tightly I had been squeezing her hands until then. I had been trying to be strong, cool, and collected for CJ but I got found out. I've said it before, it's hard to hold your baby down while others inflict pain on her. Terrible, actually, and it showed in my hands. (You should see me fly)
By the time the doc got around to the stitching, the skin was numbed and she didn't feel a thing and I wasn't letting her watch. She even complained once that she couldn't see the TV in the middle of it all so I knew her attention had shifted. Don't worry, she was still crying a lot.
Finally the stitch was in and the nurses officially changed the dressing. Unfortunately, the needle sticks made her bleed a little and they couldn't get it completely cleaned up before they put down the cover so we're going to have to change it again in a couple days (right on schedule if I had left without trying to change it in the hospital). Good thing we checked it when we did.
After the hubbub died down and she was resting comfortably again, and as we waited for the x-ray guy to come, she said the most amazing thing. "Daddy, I still like you." That was nice to hear.
Next came the chest x-ray. She didn't like the look of the big machine being wheeled into her room but she had had an x-ray when she checked in so she was easily convinced that it wasn't going to hurt. The tech was pretty good to so it didn't take long at all.
Then it was wait for about an hour for the film to be developed and looked at to make sure the line was still in place. We chilled in her bed and I actually dosed for a bit. Everything had been taken to the car so I didn't have a lot to do. I even told the catering services woman not to worry about lunch because I was sure we'd be gone. Shoulda knowed better. At least we still had leftover pizza.
Thanks to Heather from Child Life who did a masterful job of keeping CJ occupied while I went to get coffee or the little daddy's room.
FINALLY, we got the all clear, I dressed CJ as fast as I could and we were outta there. I was half expecting someone to come chasing after me, "Wait! There's something else!" It was like one of those war movies where the people who the NAZIs have been looking for are passing through the last checkpoint before freedom and everyone is on the edge of their seats wondering if they're going to get caught.
OK, so maybe it wasn't that bad but it did make me think of it.
So after planning to leave the hospital around 1, we didn't get home until just past 6. Made the homecoming that much nicer. Now we turn right around and go back for round two in a week and a half. (One day at a time.)
Charlotte's Devon came by and visited for a while before she has to go back to school. Even with Devon wearing a mask, it was a very good visit.
Charlotte got a bath and we all slept soundly for once. When Rachel and I came down this morning, CJ was waiting for us with a nice full diaper and gave me another one later. BONUS POOPIE!
This morning was very nice, everybody got a little bit done, CJ actually got to see Dora on Nickelodeon, a rare treat.
Now I have to go do a class at Romp n' Roll and load up the car for RNR2Go tomorrow in Ladysmith.
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