Day 8

9:00 pm - I know you have all been worried and wondering about what would come of Hayes and his ongoing lung issues, so I will not keep you waiting anymore.  It is kind of a long story and too confusing to try and type, so I will just update you on what was decided - The frequency of breathing treatments is being increased to every three hours, and he will also be getting a combination nebulizer treatment every six hours.  Not nearly as exciting as you were anticipating, is it?  Good, that's how I like it!  Other than waiting to hear back on that, the rest of our evening was pretty uneventful.  We did some playing, visited with all of the doctors and nurses who stopped by, and even ate a big, yummy cafeteria dinner in our little room.  It kind of felt like our typical Friday evenings at home...except we were in a hospital...and everyone was wearing scrubs and white coats.  Oh well, we still had each other - and that is the most important thing of all!  Speaking of important things, I have to sign off tonight by giving a great big shout out to Dr. Tsao (who I just found out is a regular reader of the the blog too!).  He is not only a phenomenal doctor...he is also an amazing man as well.  He performed a miracle on our precious baby boy, and although I know that words could never truly express how we feel - thank you, thank you, thank you, Dr. Tsao!

3:00 pm - Not too much to update you on since this morning.  We met with the attending pulmonology doctor a little while ago...and then the attending pediatric surgeon after that...and now, the two teams are meeting with each other...and hopefully, we will hear back from one of them soon.  (Follow me?)  Both doctors had a lot to offer regarding this pesky lung issue, but I do not want to say too much until I hear what decisions are made.  (Sorry for the teaser, but I am going to have to leave you hanging on this one!)  I do have to say that Hayes has done some pretty silly things since my last post though, and in response - I have said some ridiculous things that I never in a million years thought that I would ever say.  Here are just a few examples...

- "Please leave your nasal cannula in your nose."
- "Where did you get that bloody gauze pad from - your incision or your drains?"
- "Here...play with this firetruck and not your pulse ox."
And last but not least,
- "Hayes, let's not eat your PICC line."

9:00 am - I cannot begin to tell you how well rested I feel!  Here in the IMU, vitals are only taken every four hours (as opposed to every hour in the PICU), and our night nurse was fabulous at coordinating all of his other orders so that we could get as much sleep as possible.  God bless her!  I know that his treatment and medicine schedules are necessary, but sometimes I feel like a good night's rest is just as important too.  So, here is what our overnight schedule kind of looks like now that we are in IMU...

8 pm - Vitals and breathing treatment.
9 pm - Cody heads home...Hayes goes to bed...I blog.
10 pm - I go to bed.
12 am - Vitals, breathing treatment, medicine.
4 am- More vitals and breathing treatments.
6 am - Wake-up, medicine, and the constant stream of doctors and nurses begins...

Who was saying they were sooo tired this morning?  Not you?  I didn't think so.  Anywho, our morning has continued to go really well.  His two remaining drains were pulled, his PICC line is now disconnected from any continuous fluids or medications, and his lungs...well, they are still pretty junky.  Breathing treatments have been bumped to every three hours now, and the pulmonology team was called to help troubleshoot a solution as well.  I am really hoping they can come up with a quick fix soon because I feel like this is the one part of recovery that is slowing us down.  So frustrating!  On a much happier note, Hayes got approved to begin eating solids!  So, I decided to order him one of his most favorite breakfasts - a blueberry breakfast bar with a side of pureed pears.  As soon as room service set the tray down, his eyes got big and his little mouth started to open wide.  And although he did not eat quite as much as he typically does, I know he was loving every bite!

Hayes checking out the room service menu - decisions, decisions... 

Mmm, mmm, good!