Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A visit from Emily and... an announcement.

  We had a good night - with the only exception being that of a sneaky canula. That sneaky little thing kept hopping right out of place! It would rest on Abby's nose or on her forehead.  It wouldn't be a big deal except that when it was being sneaky, all of us knew about it because the alarms would go off due to Abby's oxygen levels dipping below 80. (Funny that we used to love seeing her at 80, and now we don't love it.  Not at all.  But sometimes it takes time - anywhere from a few months to a few years to see the complete results of this surgery and see the patients oxygen levels stay consistently in the high 90's.) Finally, we realized that the sneaky canula was in upside down. It really was sneaking off all by itself and did not have the aid of cute 7 yr. old fingers as mom had imagined. ;)

  The amount of oxygen needed is getting now down to 1/8 litre most of the time, while her oxygen levels are still staying above 80, which is great.

  It has been a wonderfully full day.  We went to the playroom and made butterflies, played musical instruments, and had a jolly good time playing the piano. 

  A cute little visitor ambled in today to spend some time with us.  Emily, the dog (keesh - the national dog of the Netherlands) was gentle and great with to hang out on Abby's bed.  The girls loved petting her and her owner was so friendly and told great traveling stories.  What a treat. :)

  A good friend gave Abby a Twilight Turtle (Cloud B) to enjoy during our stay here.  The rules though, were to find another friend to give it to so that they can enjoy it as well.  Today we met a sweet girl that is almost the same age as Abigail.  She is such a sweet heart and the girls had a good chat together.  She was so thrilled to receive the turtle as a gift and kept saying that she had always wanted one and that she loved that it was pink. :)  This little girl has spent about 4 of the last 12 months in the hospital. Not all at once, thankfully, but that is still a lot of time spent staring at the walls. I can't even imagine. We made the room dark and lit up the ceiling with a rainbow of stars.  It was so fun.  Thank you friend for the opportunity that you gave us to bring joy to others.  (I want to respect the privacy of this family and because I forgot to ask their permission to share their story, I have been very vague.  I must say that I am absolutely awestruck at the miracles available through modern science.  I will also share that she has finished her phases of surgery and shouldn't have to have any more in her lifetime.)

  AAAAAAAnnnnnnnddddddd....  there is a really good possibility that we will head home tomorrow.  Depends on x-rays, bloodwork, etc. yay!  All of my fingers and toes are crossed. 

 Notes for personal reference: signs of thrush were noticed today, Nystatin started.  yuck.  But at least Abby was able to communicate well with me and I recognized the signs.

 

 

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