Atticus woke up kinda cranky yesterday, but it was also time for his next dose of pain meds, so once those were in his system, he was a little more pleasant. He got a little nauseated with the beginning of breakfast after about 1/2 of an egg, but then managed to keep down a whole pancake, a few bites of yogurt, and some more apple juice.
After breakfast, we headed down to the Atrium to play for a little while. He played with the cars, some instruments, and then spotted a pretend phone, which was a hit for quite a while. We stayed until they closed for lunch, then we headed upstairs. While we waited for them to bring his lunch tray, Atticus refused to get back into his bed, so I let him join me on my couch bed until his food came. Once it got there, Atticus managed to walk for the first time since Wednesday. He walked the 10 or 15 feet from the couch to his bed with just holding my hand loosely for stability. His nurse also decided to wean of his oxygen since he had been on just .25L. Hooray for progress!!
Lunch was another round of nausea after he had eaten only a few bites, but he managed to then polish off a full bag of potato chips, 1/2 a bowl of mac n cheese, 1/2 a bag of mini chocolate chip cookies, and a few bites of chocolate pudding. (I know. Awesome diet for a heart patient, but at least he ate and kept it down!) We had apparently had so much fun downstairs that he was completely exhausted and actually took a long nap (partially because I talked his nurses into leaving him alone instead of waking him up for vitals).
Once Atticus woke up, we played in his room for a bit. I had gone to the gift shop downstairs and got him a "paint with water" book while he was sleeping to help keep him occupied during the times the Atrium is closed. Then we got a visit from a very special visitor. Bristol, a spaniel mix and one of MUSC's "Hairy Heroes", came to visit Atticus! He was super thrilled because he absolutely LOVES dogs. The nurses put an extra blanket across the bottom of his bed so that she could lay in the bed with him. She stayed for about 20 minutes, and Atticus just hugged her and pet her.
After Bristol left, Atticus wanted to get out of the room. The Atrium hadn't quite reopened yet, so we ended up loading him in his wagon and just wondering the 7th and 8th floors of the hospital until it opened at 5PM. We played there until 6PM when it was time to go upstairs for some meds...and a dressing change on his chest tubes.
Atticus was NOT happy with the dressing change. The chest tubes are really painful, and pulling medical tape off of them is the last thing he wanted to do. Atticus has a tendency to not breathe properly when he's crying really hard. So much so that another nurse (the one who monitors all his numbers at the nurses' station) ran into check on him because his oxygen saturation had dropped into the 50s!! He was a deep shade of purple by the we finished and had to be put back on oxygen for a little while.
We went back downstairs to the playroom for a little while, but Atticus was still pretty cranky, so we didn't end up staying for long. We went back to his room for dinner (which he just nibbled, but didn't get nauseated with at least!). He ended up being put back on .25L of oxygen because his sats were running a little low. He was pretty fast asleep by 9PM, so I snuck off to wash some clothes.
Today has been a busy day for Atticus. After morning rounds, Atticus had one of his chest tubes AND the line in his neck removed!! Hooray! That means we're down to just one chest tube and some oxygen! Way to go, Atticus! This also meant that we had to go back downstairs for another chest x-ray. The doc came down a short while ago and said that there was just a little bit of fluid in his left lung where the tube had come out. They'll do another x-ray in the AM just to check on it. Please pray that this will resolve itself!
Atticus hasn't had much of an appetite today. He's been drinking plenty of fluids, but I've only managed to get 3/4 of a butter biscuit and a few bites of egg in him. He flat out refused to eat any lunch, even refusing the ice cream I bought him. I've ordered some dinner for him, so hopefully I can get more food in him. Please also pray that his appetite returns to stay, as that will play a factor in how soon we can get out of here.
We made a trip to the Atrium earlier today, had a visit from Aunt Di, and took another good nap this afternoon. The docs have also switched his pain meds from every 2 hours to "as needed". He seems to be doing ok with the change, but its more important to try to stay ahead of his pain. All in all, its been a good few days with plenty of steps in the right direction. We still have lots of healing to do, so please everyone, keep on prayin'!
Playing in the Atrium
The sweet dog that came to visit.
A little Versed before our chest tube and neck line was removed. He was so loopy!
He was passed out while we waited for Radiology to come get us. Lol!
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