Charles got his blood cultures back today and we are very relieved to find out that the infection is not in his blood. If it were in his bloodstream, it would be a pretty big and sad deal.
He continued to show a steady temp between 97 and 98 throughout the last night and today and the doctors felt pretty good about it and told us that one degree less than normal was not something that presented a serious concern.
He ate well today and drank pretty well, too. The docs are encouraging him to drink a lot since they removed the iv fluids. He has been pretty interested in food still and continued to eat like a champ during the day. He was not very sleepy last night and was awake a lot. Since he has been in the hospital, he hasn’t left his bed and it has really done a number on his sleep schedule. He did sleep well mid-day. His eye is also looking a lot better today.
The Docs said that we could take him home today after he started on the oral version of the antibiotics that he was getting through the IV. Right before lunch we gave him his dose and he didn’t want it, but we forced it down (it tastes bad) and gave him a juice box chaser which seemed to work. It was going well so they started preparing for his discharge.
He wasn’t really interacting again today and we thought that he may be just bummed to be in a scary, strange place where everyone has a mask and wants to jab you with something. So we thought that getting him some familiar toys might get a good reaction and i went down to the gift shop and got some small cars for him. It’s strange how some kids are pre-disposed to love cars and others could care less. Charles is definitely a car kid. After we gave them to him, something totally remarkable happened and he perked right up and was the happiest kid in the universe again for about 15 minutes. It was awesome and we caught some of it on video and pics (I think that the audio cuts out in the video, but it’s great anyway):
I think that the one on the left is my new favorite pic of Charles.
Unfortunately it was short lived and our happy moment ended abruptly shortly after these were taken. We had just signed the discharge papers and were gathering our bags to walk out the door and Charles threw up all over himself and the bed. I don’t know another way to describe the feeling other than totally and utterly defeated. I think even Charles was feeling it. We were so bummed. I was thinking “here we go again”
A couple doctors came in to talk to us shortly afterward about our options and I wanted to get out of there and get him home. I thought that the comfort and familiarity would do him more good than logging time on all the monitors in his bed. Melinda agreed and we decided to take him home and so we did.
We picked up Norah at the Smyth/Peck residence where she had spent the last 2 days going to carnivals, swimming pools, and partying with her friends. She wasn’t as excited to see us as I had hoped. We gave her a cupcake and she walked to the car without resistance. She was clearly in her own world licking off the cupcake’s frosting in it’s entirety.
On that note, we can’t really describe what it feels like to have friends that will take your child in for a few days when the other is in the hospital. We are SO grateful. You guys are amazing.
We made it home around dinner time and everything went well. Charles is having a hard time walking and playing because he has been bed-ridden for so long and he is still pretty weak. His torticolis (asymmetrical neck muscle development) seems to be back a little. He was in physical therapy for that when he was younger and he is walking around with his head sort of tipped to his right. He has spent most of his time in bed in the past week with his right fingers in his mouth with his head turned as a comfort thing. He is wobbly when he walks and falls down, so we have to follow him around so he doesn’t get hurt. I don’t think that will have to go on for long and we are thrilled that he is interested in play.
He is in bed now and doing well. Kept his dinner down and was happy all night. We are hopeful that his throw up was an isolated incident today. He took his yucky medicine like a champ tonight and we will be administering it 3 times a day for the next 10 days. We have a follow up Dr. visit/checkin at Town and Country tomorrow. They are awesome for having weekend hours.
Thanks again to everyone’s support. We are hopeful that Charles is over the worst of it and glad things are starting to return to normal. BIG BIG thanks again to everyone.