August 24, 2012

Outside Temp: Not sure... probably in the 50's (it was cooler today, in the 70's, with lots and lots of wind!)

What I cooked today:
Chicken Noodle Soup:  Patrick has been asking for soup, but since it's been so hot, I've continually veto'd his desire for soup.  Well, today was cooler, and with the lack of protein in the house (I really need to get more ground beef and chicken, but I've been otherwise occupied), I figured this was a good way to make 9.5 ounces of chicken go into an entire meal.  So, I used some of my homemade stock and whipped up some soup.  The only problem is that we finished off the pot quickly and Patrick wanted more.  Oh well, he'll have to wait for next time!

Update:
Ryan Hospital, Day 7

So, we all know by now that we don't do plans.  We don't even try to do plans.  Yet, somehow, we conveniently forget that we don't do plans. 

I made the mistake of saying that we were going home today.  We even got so far as getting the antibiotics and TPN for home mixed up and ready for us to pick up.  But, Ryan had other plans.

Around 1pm (about an hour from when we were supposed to go home), Ryan decided to start throwing up.  And, throwing up, for a kid with a small bowel and liver transplant is not a good thing.  The doctors decided to keep us a little longer.  We did XRays, and found that there was a lot of air in his bowels.  And, what he was throwing up was green, which is a bad color.  (Normally, bile is produced but goes down the GI tract and out.  Bile is green.  If there is bile in your stomach and you are throwing it up, it means things are not going through your GI tract the way they are supposed to.  This is a bad thing).

So, the doctors decided to put an NG (nasal-gastric, goes from your nose down into your stomach) tube in, which, as you can imagine, Ryan didn't really like.  I mean, lets face it, no one likes getting a tube shoved up your nose and pushed down into your stomach.  It immediately drained out a lot of green stomach juices, which is not good.  The good part is that with an NG tube in, he doesn't have to throw up, and burn his throat and esophagus. 

This evening, Patrick and I were discussing options, and we think he may have developed C-Diff, which is a bug you can get if you are on too many antibiotics.  The GI tract has lots of good bacteria growing.  If the good bacteria get killed off, by using antibiotics, the c-diff bacteria can grown really strong and cause problems.  Common symptoms are vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramping.  Essentially, your GI tract shuts down. 

So, we had the doctors order culture to see if it's c-diff.  If it is, we can treat it relatively easily with a different antibiotic (I know, sounds a little crazy), and he should get better quickly.  Until then, he really hates having the NG tube in his nose, and he really would have liked to go home. 

I decided to switch with Grandma, so she could get a good night's sleep.  Ryan's sleeping pattern is totally messed up, and she didn't get much sleep last night.  Of course, this is not exactly how I planned on spending this weekend, but, as I mentioned before, Ryan doesn't do plans.  I know better than that.

So, now we are just waiting for the cultures to come back, and keeping an eye on his NG tube (both what comes out of it, and making sure it stays in place and he doesn't feel the need to remove it).  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day!