Subject: Elena Update: 11.3.09, Tues, 0500
Elena Update: 11.3.09, Tues, 0500
1.) They moved Elena to her own room, but still in the PICU section.
Thank God! And this one is even better than the one we were issued the
first few days we were on the regular children's floor. If the last
one was the size of a closet in a Ritz Carlton suite, then this one's
gotta be at least the size of a closet at your local Super 8!! :-) Its
gotta be a gracious 80-100 sq ft. (And honestly, having our little 2-
yr old angel laying in the same room as us...I don't give a flip what
size room it is...just as long as our kid is in it with us!)
2.) Its much quieter having our own room now. About 1/6th of the
whirrs & beeps...only Elena's whirrs & beeps now. Thank God. It should
be easier for her to (hopefully) get a chance to rest.
3.) On that note...at the time of writing this (0345), so far Elena
has slept 30 min in the past 48 hrs. Evidently one of the many side
'benefits' of the withdrawal drugs is that she doesn't sleep. It's
tough needing to catch some zzz's knowing that your little girl is
wide awake in a mental fog in the bed next to your rocking chair. We
wanna be awake as long as she's awake, so that she knows we're there
for her--even though she doesn't really know what's going on. Plus, if
we happen to doze & she were to pull one of her remaining "Terminator
tubes" out, that wouldn't be good either. And since we're in a private
room, there's not a nurse bedside to watch her each & every move, like
there typically is in the PICU bay. So we have to make sure we're
watching her pretty closely.
4.) They said that as the drugs wear off, she will eventually return
to her normal sleep cycle. Looking forward to that.
5.) They're removing one chest tube later on today (Tues). They'll
monitor her for a day or two & then possibly remove the 2nd chest tube
after that.
6.) She's still going through withdrawal symptoms. They said that may
last for a little while. I'm praying for no more than a few
days...could be longer.
7.) Fortunately she's mellowed out a bit...now she only has the 1,000
yard stare & is constantly licking her lips & chewing an imaginary
frozen blueberry. At least she's not doing the kickin chicken or the
twist & shout!
8.) It is difficult, though, looking into her eyes & not sure if she
recognizes us or not. She isn't making any facial expressions at all.
Just a lot of licking & staring. For those of you that have read a
great book called "Personality Plus", it's sorta like talking to a
Phlegmatic...absolutely no facial expressions & you're wondering if
they're picking up anything you're saying!! :-) (No offense meant for
any of you Phlegmatics out there.) :-)
9.) She's able to occassionally turn her head & move her arms & legs,
but about as much muscle control as a newborn infant. However, she
doesn't move a whole lot. She stays fairly still most of the time.
10.) She's got a little bed ulcer about the size of a $.50 piece on
the lower left of the back of her head. We're putting bacitracin on it.
11.) We had visits from the OT, PT & ST today...Occupational Therapy
(fine motor skills like feeding youself--getting a spoon to your
mouth, or dressing yourself), Physical Therapy (larger motor skills--
sitting up, turning your head, walking, etc.) & Speech Therapy (eating/
swallowing, tongue & mouth control and speaking). All seemed like
great people who really cared about what they do. And "no", none of
the above therapists were there to help me w/any of that stuff. They
were actually all there to assist Elena.
11.) One of the biggest blessings/benefits of Elena being in the
current Mellow Yellow state she's in:
a.) Since she rarely moves, I'm able to get in more besitos (kisses)!
So far since she's been extubated, I've probably kiss her about 150
times now...& that's no exaggeration. Since she's not 'with it' enough
to defend her self & throw the 'anti-kiss arm block' that her mother
taught her, I can get in a zillion kisses & she doesn't even know what
hit her! Unfortunately, my attempts to kiss my wife that often have
often come up shy the bulk of 150 attempts. :-) However, my wife-
kissing resolve has not been slighted. I will prevail! :-) So, again,
in the meantime, I get a much appreciated 100% success rate now with
my soft little non-resistant 'kissing bag' Elena! Furthermore, I think
I read in the same top medical journal as in the previous 'Elena
Update', that the more kisses a daughter gets from her Papa while in
the hospital, the faster her healing & recovery process is. And it
continued to say that even while not in the hospital, the more kisses
received from the Papa, the less chances of the daughter ever needing
to go to a hospital!
12.) You can keep up with her 'Hospital' photo album on my Fb page. If
you don't have Fb, just let me know, and I can email you the album
directly.
13.) Valeka (PICU nurse) has been taking great care of Elena on the
night shift tonight & Barbara has been her awesome Respiratory
Therapist.
14.) Thank you all SO much for your continued prayers, emails, texts,
& Fb messages. And for those of you also, that have somehow served us
directly over the past 2+ weeks...thank you, thank you, thank you. All
of you...thank you SO much for everything you all have done & continue
to do. It's very humbling & awkward to be the recipients of such love
& support. It's an absolute privilege for our family to be a part of
your thoughts & prayer time w/the Lord.
15.) To see the previous updates on Elena, they can be found in the
'Notes' section of my Facebook page.
Thank you & we love & appreciate you all TREMENDOUSLY!
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"If my wealth were measured in family & friends, I'd be one of the
wealthiest men on the planet." -me
"There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
You are a solution to somebody else's problem. -Mike Murdock
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With her good buddy Brian from the Emergency Dept. He's come to visit
her just about twice a day since she was first admitted 2 weeks ago!
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