WE ARE GOING HOME...... NOT! As a matter of fact the social worker came in today to bring me new meal passes for the cafeteria and she said "I can't believe your still here! Do you know how long your going to be here?" after I replied with a shrug, she jokingly says, "well we have a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner planned!" That got me laughing! It would not be the first Thanksgiving we have spent in the hospital although we are optimistically hoping to have her home by then.
Kya has made a small improvement today. Her attitude is a LOT better! She had some issues with her O2 Sats but cleared them up slowly throughout the day. Most of the problem we are having is because she is moving all the phlegm in her chest and it causes yours oxygen exchange to go down, because the air is not getting to the little sacs in the lungs. The more she coughs the more phlegm you can remove and the clearer the lungs get, eventually improving your overall health and then you get to go home!
So, now that your anatomy lesson is done for the day, I'll tell you what I have been up to.
I spend every day here sitting in a 10x15 room listening to constant humming, beeping, alarming, swooshing and a not so subtle hissing. As you might imagine this can be rather over-stimulating! I'm going to share a well guarded secret about how to stay sane when you are a care-giver for someone with a chronic illness AND yes, I do know that sanity is a relative term!
There are several phases to life at the hospital and for MOST "Frequent Flyer" parents like myself it kinda breaks down like this.
Stage 1: The first few days of a hospitalization you pretty much are just worried about your child and you don't watch TV or anything because it's just not that important and everything is so fragile at that moment. Your only focus is your child and you spend a lot of time speculating how bad this illness is going to be. You spend quiet moments wondering if this is "The ONE" that's going to be the last illness they ever have and you mentally and spiritually prepare for what could potentially be the worst experience of your life.
Stage 2: After things have settled and the child is stabilized things shift and it's now OK to turn on the TV and watch the news, read a book, watch a movie, do a crossword puzzle or even spend some time online Face booking or plotting out the spring garden! Most of the time the kids are to fragile still to socialize much and stimulation is NOT good. So It's a quiet existence.
Stage 3: We then move into the next phase where you totally feel like a schmuck and SOOOO lazy! You've done nothing productive for a week or two and you find yourself rearranging the hospital room, finding excuses to walk all the way across the hospital for just a little exercise, Picking up after all 4 of the kitchens & doing mindless little chores at the Ronald McDonald House (RMH) and practically daydreaming about a really large load of laundry to fold!
I am officially in Stage 3. In an attempt to offset the feelings of slothfulness I have been doing several hours of Records Indexing for the Family Search website. It's amazing how fast the time flies. I come in at 9am get some good snuggles in with Kya, and then I put myself to work! I'm able to drowned out the noises with my ear buds and listen to conference talks, audio scriptures, and more talk radio than should be legally allowed! I set myself up right next to her bed and she can watch me all day (since all she really wants is me in the room!). Before I know it its 7pm and time to head back to RMH. The only downside to this is that I think I've put on another couple pounds since coming here! Colleen's going to have to kick my butt into shape when I get home!
I've been spending my down time at the RMH working on my Christmas presents for the family. I brought out my sewing machine and all the necessary items and have been successful in my endeavor to put my time to good use. The staff knows me pretty well and they find it pretty entertaining. I'm notorious for asking to use items that no body ever asks for (like the iron!) The nice part is that they know I will return everything I borrow, so are very willing to help me out. AND yes theft is a major problem in the house!!
That's it for today, check back in a couple days.
Laura
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