20060915

Just Chillin in the PICU

Alondra has had an uneventful stay in the PICU. I saw the scar on her neck again this morning and it's healing very well. I also got to help Lori get another IV going. The one in her left arm closed off yesterday afternoon so she was down to one in her left foot. Lori is the cautious type and always likes to have 2 good lines for patients on a vent. It's not easy to get one going with chunky little ones like Alondra. But Lori got the job done. Took a little messing around, but it's in. As for my part, I held her foot steady.

The plan is still to extubate on Sunday. The process of weaning Alondra from the drugs is well underway. She's moving her arms and legs a little and occasionally trying to open her eyes. But she's still not allowed to move her head so we try to keep her quiet so she doesn't need more drugs.

It sounds like Alondra will spend at least 1 day post extubation in the PICU and then get to move another unit. So that would happen Monday at the earliest. Then Dr. Sumac is still giving us the 3 to 6 week line, but I asked Lori about that this morning. She said she'd be very surprised if Alondra needed to stay the full 3 weeks. A week after getting to move upstairs is likely, but not much more than that. It sounds like the biggest deal will be to get her eating again. That's never been a problem for her before.

So all is well at the hospital. I had a good laugh with Matt after soccer practice the other night I can share. The coach called a parents only meeting at the end of practice to let us know there would only be 1 boys team this year. The just didn't have enough players to fill the JV roster. He was concerned about the smaller boys (like Matt) in that this would cut into their playing time and wanted the parents to break the news. So on the way home I told Matt, "Dude, you made varsity!" He does his best Napoleon Dynamite "Yessss!" Then I tell him that everyone made varsity. He took it well. Varsity has nicer uniforms.

1 comment:

P. Ollig said...

Lucky! Soccer is pretty much my favorite sport.

That's great news about Alondra! We can't wait to meet her this Thanksgiving.