first up: the barf bucket. asher will be going early next week for his pacemaker. his HR was almost normal yesterday while he played, staying in the high 60s to high 80s all day. (and let me clarify "normal": the high 60s to high 80s is almost up to his pre-fontan resting HR... but this is our current normal, so i'll take it.) although, at one glorious moment, the "tachy" alarm went off. ah, sweet tachy, how i've missed thee. (oh, for those who don't live and breathe by ECG monitors: "tachy" is short for "tachycardia" which is fast heart rate. a beautiful alarm to hear after spending 3 days with atropine at the bedside because of serious brady. LOL) then this morning on rounds, balki was giving report, and he said that asher had a good night with no episodes, and his HR stayed in the low 40s all night. yes, folks, you read that right. at this point, low 40s is good.
second: some new bedding. this is asher being asher. sigh/LOL. this morning, he wanted to pour some water into his skim milk (apparently it's not watery enough. blech!) so he grabbed my water bottle, turned it upside down... and missed the milk. but fortunately, he managed to hit the table, the bed, and my pants! well, isn't that special. but i suppose it's wonderful to know that even in the hospital (which, btw, he doesn't want to leave. he informed me of this this morning over breakfast. too bad, kid, this time next week we are outta here!) he is still his usual, mischievous, 3-year-old self. but now i need to remake his bed. and so it goes...
third: the menu. yesterday, i'll admit, i was exhausted and overwhelmed, and ok, i'll admit, i probably (read: definitely) haven't been taking good care of myself. so, my dear friend DW came over in the evening. we hung around until asher was asleep... and then we went out. we "meandered" (toronto-style, meaning "not quite running") over to college street, and found a delightful little establishment, and had a good time. she introduced me to a friend of hers (teehee) and we hung out and talked and had a deep bib-interp-type conversation, and then we "meandered" back to the hospital. then we talked some more, and tried to help someone out, but he disappeared before we could get to him. so it goes in TO, i suppose, but at least we wanted to help. next time we'll react right away... i hope. we've each been so blessed in the past (and present)... it's such a joy to get the chance to pay it forward.
so there's the daily report from asherland. i'll try to update over the weekend, but it will be difficult to get to a computer. i'm looking forward to a "boring weekend" (dr c's words)... but at least i'll have some company. the kidley-winks are coming up tomorrow, and i hope to have some other company at some point this weekend... dr c's wife. yes, this is my life, folks: i'm going to be chatting with my son's heart surgeon's wife. it's a long story about how this came about, and why i'll be talking to her... maybe one of these days, i'll fill you in, but for now i'm holding it close to my heart (at least in the blogosphere. i've told some people already, but it's too amazing to put into written words right now, so you, my dear readers, will just have to be patient) and i'm looking forward to an amazing opportunity.
but while i have your attention, thank-you for your prayers/thoughts/vibes for little ethan. his surgery went well the other day, and the plan is to bring him back up to the ward today! i've been talking to his mother a good deal, and it's funny, the people who come into our lives in the hospital. ethan & co. were in the room next to us post-fontan, then we all went home on the same day. when we were transfered back here the other week, ethan & co. were in the room next to us again, and we all went home on the same day. and when we arrived here on tuesday, ethan & co. were in the room across the hall from us! funny how... but please continue to hold him and his family in the Light. he's doing well now as he recovers from his VSD closure, but now we're praying that he stabilizes in the big picture, and that he and his family can finally have some peace. CHD is stressful and scary, regardless of the severity, but at least we can be graced with other families who have "been there, done that."
and since you're on your knees, please continue to remember brigid and allison, who will be in London hospital for another couple weeks. brigid is a complex (and delightful!) girl, and allison is an amazing mom, but this admission is terrifying and stressful and worrisome. they need some rest, some peace, some stability, and something as close to normal as possible. i've mentioned them before, so i won't go into too many details, other than that right now, B is battling sepsis with weird and rare bugs, and it's throwing off a lot of systems for her, and her mom is pretty scared. send them Love and hold them in the Light over the next couple of weeks, and i'll try my best to keep you updated on her.
also, please pray/cross your crossables/send good vibes out there for mason and his mother stephanie, as well. this is another family we met in london during our first admit there in march. mason is another complex child with multiple issues, and had a fundoplication last week. and stephanie needs prayers as well, as she doesn't seem to be coping very well right now, based on her FB status today. please hold them in the Light, too.
that's it for now. i'll try to get online at some point over the weekend. if i don't manage to update, please don't freak out. computer availability is limited without the resource centre, so a lack of updates is neither good nor bad... it just means i don't have a computer nearby. so... ttyl! :)
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