August 22, 2012

Outside Temp: 56 F (It was only 84 here today, although it was in the 90's in Great Falls...I'm hoping that it stays this way, or gets cooler... I really don't like the 90's)

What I cooked today:
Chinese Chicken: I actually cooked today!  In my own kitchen!  Woo hoo!  After the extremely busy day today, I made of point of making dinner.  Of course, I was too lazy to make fried rice to go with it, but that's okay... They still ate it all!

Update:
Ryan Day 5 in the hospital, and First Day of School!

The first day of school was awesome!  Each of the kids had something exciting to say, and there were no negatives, which is just unheard of around here!  Allen went off to football practice and Katie went off to Volleyball practice (I didn't see that one coming), which Connor decided he really wasn't the football kind of kid, and that's okay.  Allen said he really liked football and he was really happy to find that he could actually run (so I guess last year's Track and Field really paid off).  Katie was a little concerned, since she didn't really know how to play volleyball, but she's willing to keep going for the season. 

We didn't get to start our online Web Design class today, since the kids aren't registered yet, so instead it was more of a 'sit around and chat' day, which is fine.  I think I'm going to come up with a few things to show them for the rest of the week, since they may not be able to start their official class for another week or two. 

Connor is taking 2 classes with the Junior High class, even though he's in 6th grade, so I was a little concerned.  I shouldn't have worried.  He said the classes were great and he didn't have a problem at all.  At the same time, Allen is taking 3 High School classes (he's in 8th this year) and he said they were no problem and he was really excited about his world history class.  I just hope their enthusiasm sticks around after the first week.

As for Ryan, he got his PICC line placed today!  The first doctor who tried to place it, had problems and said it kept rolling (which happens when your veins are too thin and curvy), but the second doctor went in and got it on the first try.  A PICC line goes from the inside of your elbow, up your arm, and then drops down into the heart (just like a central line).  The annoyance is that it's in your arm, not your chest.  But he seems to handle it just fine.

The doctors had to laugh, because he used an amazing amount of medication to keep him sedated through the procedure.  They thought they had him down, and when the nurse touched his arm, he reached up and hit her.  Nope... not down yet.  The next time they thought he was down, they tried to put the nasal cannula on him (the little tubes that go on your nose to help you breathe).  He opened his eye and started moving around.  Nope... still not down yet.  They ended up having to get a second bag of the medication, just to get him sedated enough that they could start working on him!  He has an amazing tolerance for drugs. 

When he woke up from the sedation, he immediately reached for his chest, and looked up and asked, "Where's my line?".  He obviously thought they were placing another central line.  It was explained that his line was now on his arm.  "Okay." he said, and accepted it just fine.  When I asked him later, "Where is your line?", he looked down at his arm and said, "Right here."  Duh, silly mom.

The infection in his blood seems to be under control (i.e. gone), but they are still a little worried about the staph infection on his skin.  They are keeping a close eye on any rash on his body, and they are using a topical antibiotic to make sure there is no lingering staph infection anywhere.   We will probably keep him in at least a few more days, just to be on the safe side.  And, while isn't obnoxiously inconvenient, it's also worth it to make sure we are good and healthy before we come home.  We are also on antibiotics every 6 hours, which will be a little bit of a pain when we do get home, so every day we stay in the hospital is one more day I don't have to do 4 IV antibiotics a day at home. 

He's feeling fine, sitting up in bed and playing his XBox games.  I guess it's a good thing that he doesn't know that he missed the first day of fun games at school!