Day 3 - A Better Day

Day three was a much better day. Ryan has been much more awake today and his sense of humor is shining through. I spent the night at the Ronald McDonald House with Sydney and I received a text from Ryan first thing with a copy of the hospital menu. He took a picture of the 'meatloaf' item and told me that he was going to order that for me. I hate meatloaf. He gave me a good laugh.

I arrived at the hospital close to 10am. Brett wanted me to come as soon as I could as the doctors typically round in the morning and come by and brief the parents. Today they didn't come until after noon. Brett was already gone by then.

We got Ryan out of bed today. He received a sponge bath and got clean sheets. He was so gracious to the tech giving him the bath and I was so proud of him. He kept thanking her. I was so proud of him. He is such a sweet soul. I continued to take pictures as they were moving him. I think the nurses may have thought I was a bit crazy but hey- I need to document this stuff. One of Ryan's favorite pictures from when he was a baby is the one we were able to get with his central line dressing off and the line coming out of his chest. We now have a picture of him with a larger tube coming out of his side. He will appreciate it one day.

If you look closely you can see the lines on Ryan's back. They almost look like stretch marks. These wrinkles are from his bedding that we were unable to get smoothed out the day before. The two incisions on his back are where the surgeon accessed his lungs.

Sitting up in the chair. He looks a bit like death warmed over.

Dad's turn to  feed breakfast

This shower cap was pretty snazzy. It is wet on the inside. You place it over the patients head and massage.

Clean hair

The chest tube.

As Sydney and I were walking out of the hospital for the night, she pointed out this painting and said "Look mom, it is doing the whip"

Here is the update I sent to the family for day 3

Update Day 3 - Today was a much better day. Ryan was much more awake today and his pain was managed for most of the day - all good signs. Around noon we were able to get him out of his bed. He had a sponge bath from an amazing tech who clearly loves those she serves. I was so impressed with her professionalism. She treated Ry with so much respect and I appreciated it so much. Ry sat in a chair for close to an hour. We thought he was only going to sit in it for 10 minutes, but the nurses were very busy today and it took them quite a while to return to the room. By the time we got Ry back in to the bed his pain began to rise. It took some time to get relief meds. My Public Service Announcement for today is this - bring the med when you say you are bringing the med. We were told he could have more medication at 2:30. Straight up at 2:30 we pressed the call button. The nurse came in the room, looked at his chart, and said she would be right back with his medication. It was another 1/2 hour before she returned with the medicine. I think he slides into delirium when he is in such pain and does his best to just sleep until the relief can come. Ryan was able to eat twice today. He had spaghetti noodles with butter both times. He didn't want to order food because he said he felt so bad that he was wasting so much. I convinced him to order anyway. We ordered a 1/2 serving and he ate the entire thing. Hooray for bland pasta with butter - one of his favorite things. He ate the same food for dinner. Ry was able to be weaned from the supplemental oxygen. His O2 stats are staying steady most of the time.We saw our pulmonary doc today for the first time. I love her. When I spend time with her it is confirmed to me why we are here. We were given visuals of the cysts that were removed from Ryan's lungs - 1 small peach/lacrosse ball and 3 cherries. Ry still has a chest tube and it is still leaking air, which means his lung isn't completely healed. They will turn off the suction tomorrow and test to see if his lung will seal without the constant suction. There is a possibility that they will be able to remove the tube tomorrow, but we won't know that until they decide to do a chest X-Ray. The Chest X-Ray won't happen until there is less drainage and the bubbling in his chest tube output slows a bit more. Today's miracle - my children. Sydney and I ate dinner at the Ronald McDonald Housetonight. There are groups that come in and bring meals for the residents there. As we sat there I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude for my kids. They both have chronic health conditions, but they pale in comparison to that of so many residents at the house. They are also alive despite the challenges they have had with their health that could have easily taken them both. Heavenly Father has truly blessed my family.

Update Day 3 - Today was a much better day. Ryan was much more awake today and his pain was managed for most of the day - all good signs. Around noon we were able to get him out of his bed. He had a sponge bath from an amazing tech who clearly loves those she serves. I was so impressed with her professionalism. She treated Ry with so much respect and I appreciated it so much. Ry sat in a chair for close to an hour. We thought he was only going to sit in it for 10 minutes, but the nurses were very busy today and it took them quite a while to return to the room. By the time we got Ry back in to the bed his pain began to rise. It took some time to get relief meds. My Public Service Announcement for today is this - bring the med when you say you are bringing the med. We were told he could have more medication at 2:30. Straight up at 2:30 we pressed the call button. The nurse came in the room, looked at his chart, and said she would be right back with his medication. It was another 1/2 hour before she returned with the medicine. I think he slides into delirium when he is in such pain and does his best to just sleep until the relief can come.

Ryan was able to eat twice today. He had spaghetti noodles with butter both times. He didn't want to order food because he said he felt so bad that he was wasting so much. I convinced him to order anyway. We ordered a 1/2 serving and he ate the entire thing. Hooray for bland pasta with butter - one of his favorite things. He ate the same food for dinner.

Ry was able to be weaned from the supplemental oxygen. His O2 stats are staying steady most of the time.We saw our pulmonary doc today for the first time. I love her. When I spend time with her it is confirmed to me why we are here. We were given visuals of the cysts that were removed from Ryan's lungs - 1 small peach/lacrosse ball and 3 cherries.

Ry still has a chest tube and it is still leaking air, which means his lung isn't completely healed. They will turn off the suction tomorrow and test to see if his lung will seal without the constant suction. There is a possibility that they will be able to remove the tube tomorrow, but we won't know that until they decide to do a chest X-Ray. The Chest X-Ray won't happen until there is less drainage and the bubbling in his chest tube output slows a bit more.

Today's miracle - my children. Sydney and I ate dinner at the Ronald McDonald Housetonight. There are groups that come in and bring meals for the residents there. As we sat there I felt so overwhelmed with gratitude for my kids. They both have chronic health conditions, but they pale in comparison to that of so many residents at the house. They are also alive despite the challenges they have had with their health that could have easily taken them both. Heavenly Father has truly blessed my family.