Thursday, September 2, 2010

Momma Got Some Sleep

Not that it is the most important update, but I wanted to report that I slept 4 hours last night and got another 2 hour nap in earlier this morning. Zoe is sleeping better, allowing us to get some much needed shut-eye.

Now, as far as Zoe is concerned...

She is doing quite well. She has not received Tylenol in 18 hours and her fever has not returned. She seems to be fussy only when gnawing at her hand (hunger.) I'm convinced though that she's attempting to chew threw the IV tubing and run the hell outta here. Seriously, the girl is so strong, it wouldn't surprise me :)

The renal ultrasound was "unimpressive", meaning her kidneys and bladder are physiologically sound. Cardiology recommended we have a VCUG post-Glenn to check her bladder function. We're hoping there is nothing affecting her function and this UTI was just a fluke. Zoe is eating better today, almost back to her regular intake. Her doctors and nurses are weening her off oxygen slowly. She is down to .2 liters and sats ranging anywhere from 74-83. The decrease in sats may also simply be a sign that she is ready for her Glenn.

I participated in rounds this morning with Zoe's doctors. I, of course, helped educate them on her various idiosyncrasies. It is so, so true that we know our kids better than any medical professional. Thankfully, they realize that here at PCH and listen our every word (most of the time anyway.) At the conclusion of rounds, the cardiologist who has been here for the past 3 days (Dr. Lindblade for those of you in the know...) asked if I had any questions. I said, "um, yeah, when can we get out of here?" Everyone laughed - probably in response to my tone of voice - those of you who know me well can probably hear that tone loud and clear. Their answer, of course, not definite. Zoe needs to be on the IV antibiotics until tomorrow afternoon. They'll transfer her to oral and depending on her oxygen sats, we MAY be able to go home tomorrow. They didn't seem too confident that all this would get accomplished and we'll probably be discharged on Saturday. Fingers crossed.

Poor Zoe has been through a lot during this hospitalization. As you know, she HATES blood draws. She's had many due to her anticoagulation injections and constant need for CBC checks. Her anticoagulation levels dropped and we've had to adjust her meds twice. She'll have one more draw to check the levels and we're confident they'll be therapeutic this go-round. She'll need a few more CBCs before we leave, then she's home free...literally. Thank goodness, I'm missing my Emmy like crazy!

Now that Zoe has given us a little taste of what the next few weeks will be like, I'm not looking forward at all to being at CHOP. I'm so done with hospitals!

For the first time in 3 days, I'm sitting here alone in Zoe's hospital room. Caleb ran home to shower, change clothes (yes, we're still wearing the same clothes from Tuesday!) and gift our Cardinals tickets over to Grandpa. Tonight, I hope PCH staffers are Cardinals fans or they'll wonder what in God's name is going on in Pod 24.

Thank you all so very, very much for your support, prayers and happy thoughts. Please keep them coming. Zoe responds well to each one of them and we are very encouraged and strengthened by your outpouring of love. We are so very lucky to have each and every one of you rooting for us every step of the way. I have a great sense that Zoe has a few special angels surrounding her as well - Angel Gwen, Mia, Marie and Linda just to name a few.

Hopefully our next post will include a discharge plan (and, of course, some discharge photos!)

Love from our hearts to yours,
The Lihns

Please forgive any typos as I am still on limited sleep...

4 comments:

  1. Glad to hear she is doing better - and that you got some much needed sleep!

    I'm glad the doctors are listening to you, because we do know our children the best. It is frustrating when it takes so long to go home...I had to convince the cardiologist on call our last visit to the hospital to let us go home. He just didn't know Liam like we did, and we knew he would do so much better once he got home.

    Hang in there - Praying for yall!

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  2. Finger crossed for dicharge (xxx)...Doc.Lindblade (love him-your in great hands)..

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