Hospital Day 4

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

To sum up:  Our first hospital stay related to Toe's cystic fibrosis. He is not super sick - we are addressing a cough that would not go away with normal treatments of antibiotics. Toe has a PICC line (pronounced "pick") - a peripherally inserted central catheter and is receiving IV antibiotics through the PICC line. It will stay in until treatments are over. Toe loves it because they can draw blood through it as well. No needles. In addition, he is receiving four breathing treatments a day (at home we do two or three each day).

And now, DAY 4 (Saturday)

Wow. It is incredibly quiet at the hospital on the weekends. It has been pretty cool today - feels like we own the place. Toe woke up really early and had a hard time going back to sleep - then he slept in.

Here are some things you should know about our Children's hospital experience -

• The place is incredibly well decorated but not over-the-top. It looks beautiful and festive but also uncluttered and aesthetic. There is a giant tree in the entryway that is more than nine stories tall and fully lit. Beautiful.
• The showers are set to prevent child scalding. I would describe them as luke warm, but Toby, who got a shower today, said "That's not luke warm, that's COLD!" Certainly encourages you not to linger.
• The staff here all have amazing personalities. From the nurses to the housekeeping staff, room service, everyone has been incredibly friendly and have treated Toe with kindness, respect, and humor. I keep thinking, "I hope we have XX for many days, I like her/him so much"; then the next person comes on shift and I like this new one even better than the last.
• They are completely understanding when you have a great painting experience with acrylic paints and happen to get some on the sheets.
• It is pretty fun walking around the hospital in your pjs. Either people don't do this very often, or I have some AWESOME pjs,  because I'm getting lots of comments.
• The kid consistently wilts at around 3pm.

Toe's IgE levels came back high (Immunoglobulin E), indicating the possibility that Toe is suffering from allergies. They will be performing some next-stage tests in the coming week to determine if allergies and/or asthma play a part in his health. Chances are pretty good that something is going on, considering Jason and I both suffer from allergies.

We did more breathing treatments and IV antibiotics today. I went to the family laundry area and did laundry. We had visits this morning, afternoon, and evening. Our friends A and G brought us a little tree and some ornaments and so we took the time to decorate it and put it up and it's downright festive in here.

I walk down the halls and have glimpses of people in the other rooms and am incredibly grateful. Grateful that our child has energy and is feeling pretty well (other than the medicines they are putting into him and the cough). Grateful we are both able to take time off work and focus all of our attention on Toe. Grateful we can be a family unit even though we are not at home. Grateful I have a partner for tag-teaming and getting breaks. Incredibly grateful that we can go two hours from home and still have a strong support system in place. With this incredible wealth, I feel almost guilty... but instead, I choose to be GRATEFUL.