The Mythical 3rd Floor

The day started out differently than I had expected. I arrived in the PICU to find Alondra sounding pretty bad. The nurse confirmed that she heard some inspiratory strider. Dr. Kerchek came by and didn't like what he heard either. He wrote orders to discontinue oral feeding anticipating a bronchipscopy may be necessary. I patted her back (she was still trying to sleep) until Dr. Soumkh arrived. He was also surprised to hear the way Alondra was breathing. Though he had an idea. He asked if she had been laying down for long. The night nurse confirmed she had been laying down all night - afterall she was asleep. I was instructed to get her up and see if that made a difference. It did. Dr. Soumkh proceeded to have me lay her back down and hold her head still so he could remove the stitches. That really got Alondra mad. The crying did help clear her airway and through the morning she sounded better and better.

I wasn't in much of a mood to go to work after spending a couple hours worrying, and by then Deanna was there and she really wanted some help. So I decided to stay at the hospital until the older kids were due home and needed me to taxi them from sporting event to sporting event.

Alondra was pretty out of it most of the morning. But as we got into the afternoon she started to come out of it. In the morning she only wanted to be cuddled, but after lunch I could put her on the bed to play with toys. We gave her a nice bath and she even put on her PJs and had some applesauce. Just before I had to leave I offered my fingers as she was sitting on the bed. She went for them and lifted herself to the standing position. Deanna wanted me to sit her back down right away, but Alondra had a big smile and clearly wanted to stand. I told her how proud I was and helped he back down.

As the morning progressed, we were threatened with the mythical 3rd floor again. We had heard stories of this unit on the 3rd floor. A very nice unit by all accounts. In the time we've spent in PICU, we've seen many children and their families leave the PICU for the 3rd floor, never to be seen again. We had even been told Alondra would move the 3rd floor back in May. But instead we were sent home. So as the mythical 3rd floor was mentioned again, I was skeptical. Then it was scheduled. Alondra would be moved to the 3rd floor at 1:30. Right. 1:30 came and went. Still no 3rd floor. Then I had to leave to play taxi driver.

We had a successful sports evening. The soccer team started it off with a 3-2 victory over Epiphany in a cold rain. Then in a nice and warm gym, the volleyball team lost in a nail biter to St. Vincents.

I've spoken with Deanna since I left. She says she's calling from the mythical 3rd floor. Alondra is feeling better. She even played on the floor for about 45 minutes. She still sounds gunky, but hopefully she'll work that out soon. As for the 3rd floor, call me doubting Thomas. But I'll believe it when I see it.