Recovery Day 6...

means its been a full week (plus) since we received the call from CHOA to come to the hospital for Ian's new liver. Elaine and I were talking about how today a week ago went... how hectic and exciting and stressful it was. I'm relieved we've been able to keep blogs in order to preserve a history of this. Its a perfect little journal.

So I was thinking it was in the neighborhood of 9:15 am when she called, but that's not the case. She called me at 8:42. Again, for the record, I was working in Fairless Hills, PA (just north of Philadelphia). At the time of the call, I was standing on a very large cargo ship observing the unloading of steel slabs. I did not hear my phone, but i felt it ring. I have, btw, since confirmed that my phone does vibrate normally when it rings, but before this moment, I didn't notice it. When Elaine told me we'd just been called to go to Atlanta, a lot of thoughts went through my head. The most prominent one that seemed precede and follow every other possible concrete thought was "OH CRAP!!!" because of my location. We had planned for Ian and me to fly to Atlanta and for Elaine and Livy to be able to come along later at a more leisurely and convenient time. Those plans were out the window, because Elaine was going to have to get Ian to Atlanta. I could hear a calm panic in her voice (and so could Ian because I could hear him crying in the background a bit). I could feel the adrenaline rising in me, knowing I had to get from Philadelphia to Atlanta as quickly as possible. I wanted to be sure I got there prior to Ian heading back into surgery (turns out we had plenty of time, but we didn't know it then).

Now here we are today. Ian is back to his old eating habits, which is both frustrating and yet somehow calming. He still takes FOREVER to eat dinner, but he will eat everything eventually. I think he actually chews too much, if that's possible. He didn't do too well with the meds tonight, but he did eventually take them by mouth. He and I talked a bit after and I'm hoping he'll do better tomorrow. Ian is pretty amazing sometimes how much he comprehends on things like this. I'd like to see that NG tube removed, but if it needs to stay in, so be it. The current prognosis is still the same from yesterday... he'll leave PICU potentially Friday or Saturday. He did get another IV removed tonight (from his right hand), and he seems overall pretty happy with it out. He would have ripped it out while sleeping anyway.

Another example of how amazing he is: yesterday, while we were talking to the doctors, he piped up and asked if he was going to get his new liver. We all laughed a bit and told him he already had it. That seemed to satisfy him. We pointed to the Dr. Heffron and told Ian that it was he who did the surgery on Ian's tummy. He smiled. It was nice to see.

Oh yeah... Mr. Puppy was a smashing success last night. Kudos to Peggy Meldrum for her idea on getting Mr. Puppy next to Ian. He'd been afraid of getting Mr. Puppy dirty ever since one of his IVs popped from his left arm and he bled on one of his favorite blankets (it washed out). So to combat that, my mother-in-law suggested getting a hospital gown for Mr. Puppy. It worked. Ian slept like at home. Even the nurse commented on how well he'd slept. She did all her stuff without him waking up once. Keep your fingers crossed that he'll do a repeat tonight... I still need it.