June 16, 2010
3:45 AM - my cell phone alarm went off for the first time.
3:50 AM - I groggily got up and jumped in the shower.
4:10 AM - I headed downstairs to gather everything, got Lucas's ear ready and went to wake him.
4:25 AM - I opened Lucas's door and he stood up and walked over to me... not what I was expecting!
4:35 AM - We were on the road and only 5 minutes late. Not bad for us.
5:55 AM - We arrived at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. It's unbelievable that one day it takes us 2.5 hours and the next day 1 hr and 20 minutes.
6:00 AM - We arrived at cardiac registration. We no longer go to the regular surgery registration because Lucas now needs cardiac anesthesia.6:30 AM - They finally called us back. It was a little annoying to have to arrive by 6, but not do anything until 6:30. Our nurse's name was Lauren. We enjoyed chatting with her all day. Lucas was in really good spirits, and not afraid at all of his surroundings. He enjoyed watching Elmo on his personal tv.
6:45 AM - The IV team arrived to place an IV in Lucas's foot. During the last two surgeries, they put Lucas under before putting in his IV and I was VERY glad for that. I was not pleased with the reverse decision, and I made it clear to the nurse, especially considering what a hard stick he is. Luckily, they found his vein on the first shot and he only shed tears for a few minutes. I was hoping for none though.7:05 AM - The nurse gave him "giggle juice" and he went to his happy place. He just chilled in his bed and watched Curious George.
7:15 AM - The orthopaedic surgeon came to chat with us and examine Lucas's newly triggering right thumb. Nate and I signed off for his right thumb to be fixed too. He signed Lucas's palms and away he went.
7:40 AM - Nate and I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. We decided to just eat there. Breakfast was really good. They had made to order omelets and pancakes. I was thoroughly impressed.
8:05 AM - We headed back to the cardiac reception to wait for news. We thought we would hear by at least 9 AM.
8:50 AM - We spoke with the surgeon about the thumbs surgery. He reported that everything went well, but his left thumb might take some time to completely straighten out, as it has been bent for so long. He said that neither thumb will ever trigger again! Lucas was now having his heart echo done.
10:30 AM - They finally came to get us. The heart echo must have been really thorough!! I'm not complaining though. Lucas continued to sleep for another hour, although he kept wiping his face in his sleep. Very strange.
11:30 AM - Lucas woke up happily for about... 1 minute. Then, he was absolutely hysterical. He wanted his hand bandages OFF and nothing would calm him down. Nothing. He kept flailing his arms, so I held him, Nate held one arm and the nurse held the other arm. It was a long 15 minutes. We gave him some oxycodon and he finally took his sippy cup and calmed down. I've never seen him act like that before in my life. I think he was in a strange state with the anesthesia. I'll be happy if we never experience that again.
12:00 PM - We started getting ready to leave. Everything looked fine and Lucas had been drinking and keeping everything down. Now all he had to do was pee. No problem... or so we thought.
12:30 PM - Still no wet diaper.
1:00 PM - Still no wet diaper.
1:30 PM - Still no wet diaper.
2:00 PM - Still no wet diaper.
2:30 PM - Still no wet diaper. Lucas was very active this whole time too. He entertained the nurses all afternoon with his funny sayings and actions. Even though he was tired, he would not sit still for more than 20 seconds. At least he wasn't crawling out of his bed, but he did keep trying to stand up.
3:00 PM - Still no wet diaper, but Lucas wanted to be held by me. Lucas's bladder was visibly very full, and he was doubled over in pain. We debated whether we should catheterize him or not. Lucas still needed to pee on his own. But, since he was in so much pain, we decided we needed to help him. So, the nurses got all of their materials out, put on their gloves, I laid him down on the bed and.... we had a WET DIAPER. We were thrilled. So, we started the discharge process.
3:20 PM - We were just waiting for the nurse to bring us a dose of medicine for Lucas for the road, and Lucas kept asking for the wash basin. But, it was full of water, because we kept trying to put his feet in it to make him pee, so I couldn't give it to him. I guess he remembered what it was for though, because he proceeded to throw up everywhere. I'm telling you, he's one smart cookie.
3:30 PM - We left the cardiac floor and headed to the 1st floor to pick up his meds. Lucas enjoyed the atrium. It's really a beautiful hospital. I really got the feeling that "hope lives there", just like their motto says.
4:00 PM - We left the parking garage and headed to the Schuykill. Traffic was pretty bad, and what should have taken us 20 minutes took us an hour. Thank goodness Lucas was sleeping.
5:40 PM - The gas light went on. We had forgotten to fill up our gas tank after Tuesday's CHOP trip. Luckily, we were only 3 miles from the service station. We were seriously L.U.C.K.Y.
6:00 PM - We were almost to our exit on the turnpike, but we were engrossed in a story on NPR and we missed it. We're not talking like "oh just get off at the next road and turn around." We're talking "next stop: Harrisburg, PA." We had no choice. At least Lucas was still sleeping.
6:40 PM - We finally arrived at our humble abode. I went to sit down on the couch with Lucas and he immediately wiggled down and asked to watch "toys" (Toy Story). Then he requested to "build towers" (play with his legos and build towers).
9:00 PM - Lucas got a sponge bath, because there will no bath until his bandages come off in a week. I don't know what we're going to do!
9:15 PM - Lucas got one more dose of pain killers and went to sleep.
9:45 PM - I went to sleep. It was a loooooong day.
I didn't hear from him again until 8 AM, although we checked on him several times. Today he is back to his normal self AND he's leaving his bandages alone. He's doing so well that we haven't even given him Tylenol today. It's over. No more thumb surgery. Summer can begin. I give that two thumbs up!!! We are celebrating tomorrow with a trip to Dutch Wonderland. Hopefully he can keep his hands dry!