This weekend not a lot happened medically which we knew would be the case but it still was eventful. The best part of the weekend was arriving on Saturday at the hospital after work. I had worked all day while Isaac was with Sarah and Rob's mom was with him. It was hard for me to be away from both of my boys so I was happy to spend some time with Isaac in the late afternoon and then arrived at the hospital in the evening. Rob's trach was capped during the day, meaning that they block it so he is breathing through his mouth and nose but it is still there just in case he needs it. When I walked onto the unit I stopped to talk to the nurses and ask if we could go for a walk outside. I had asked the weekend before but they don't like you to leave the unit if you have a trach just incase something happens so they had said no. Once he was capped we got the yes to go out. Then his nurse said to me that I might not even recognize him! I went running down the hall to his room to see handsome Rob showered and shaved!! So off we went on our adventure outside! I took him in a wheelchair and we went to the sunny side of the hospital and just enjoyed the fresh air and each others company. We didn't stay too long because Rob was getting cool but to get outside was great.
Sunday and Monday were quiet days with a few family visits, practice at doing the tube feeds ourselves, playing carcasonne, a visit to starbucks on the first floor, saying goodbye to Sarah after her visit and just spending some time together.
Before we knew it the long weekend was over and Tuesday was here. We knew a lot would happen today but didn't realize it would all happen at once. The first thing that happened was they removed Rob's splint on his arm and took out the staples. He still has to keep a bandage on it but they are very happy with the skin graft and he is now able to start exercises to gain strength back. It is very weak and stiff so he will have to work hard at it but his goal is to be able to do a push up again. The skin on his arm will always look a little different but over time it will look better and better.
Next on the list was the physio therapist. He went over exercises Rob should do and how to help get his arm back to being normal. He also talked to us about getting physio as an out patient to help over the next few months.
Sometimes when you are in hospital you can wait a long time to see the doctor but today the 3 people we needed to see arrived within 10 minutes of each other. Plastics came first to switch Rob's NG tube. They had put in a large one and it needed to be downsized. Ideally you are not awake while they put in a feeding tube but Rob did not have that option today. It was not an enjoyable experience but they got it out and in with no problem. Right after that the Speech Language Pathologist came to talk about swallowing. Before we even asked any questions the dr came to take out the trach. I assumed this would be a big deal but it was gone in 15 seconds. I turned my head and it was out. It wasn't uncomfortable to get it removed however Rob had a really hard time with coughing after it was out. I would say for about 2 hours Rob was very uncomfortable with constant coughing and feeling he couldn't catch his breath. It often takes a little bit for your body to adjust to the constant changes. When the dressing on the trach was changed tonight you could already notice a difference in the size of the hole. It is truly amazing how our body can heal. The Speech Language Pathologist said she would come back tomorrow morning so Rob could rest after all that had just happened. The last thing that needed done was an xray of the NG tube to make sure it was going into his stomach. This was done quickly and after the results came back Rob was able to have some pain meds and eventually had a nap.,
Isaac is really missing having daddy at home and constantly talks about when daddy gets better and how God will heal him. The plan is for Rob to come home tomorrow (Wed). We have a meeting with the home nutrition program at 10am and hopefully after a few more details we can go home! Rob is a little nervous about coming home but also very much looking forward to it. Rob has received wonderful care over the last 2 weeks. You often hear about terrible hospital stays but we can honestly say that it went well.
I am absolutely exhausted emotionally and physically. I look forward to having both of my boys at home together and being able to just relax at our home. In the last 2 weeks I have spent very little time at home while I was awake and with Isaac so we plan on enjoying some time as a family.
Thanks for caring and praying.
Love Karen
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