Thankfully, everyone WAS home for Christmas, but it almost didn't turn out that way! On Tuesday afternoon we took James in for his weekly checkup and, long story short, were in the doctor's office from 1pm-4pm, then sent to another doctor across the street until 5pm, then sent back to the hospital for James to be admitted. The doctors were concerned because the output from his ostomy has been really high volume, which means he wasn't absorbing enough nutrients/vitamins/minerals and was likely leaching water from his bloodstream in order to keep up. They thought he may be getting dehydrated and may have caught a virus, so they took blood samples and checked us in to a hospital room on the pediatric floor. (Can I just say, THANK GOODNESS that Keith's parents are staying with us for 3 weeks and could be there to watch Maddie!) We ended up staying with James at the hospital from Tuesday evening thru Thursday morning (Christmas Eve) and pretty much just got really frustrated at the fact that everyone seemed so disorganized and, aside from plugging in a tube for IV fluids, we were in charge of all his care while we were there. One nurse even said, "This is all the normal stuff you could just be doing at home, right?" Yep! Exactly! The only thing they needed to do at the hospital was the blood draws and giving him a 4-hour blood transfusion, but we could have just brought him in for that procedure. I have a feeling this will be just the first of many stays at the hospital for our little guy. Thankfully, he's doing better now and seems to be feeling just fine. Please continue to pray for James, that his body would regulate the fluids so that he can absorb as much as possible and continue to grow new intestine in preparation for his re-connection surgery (likely in March). The surgeon has said the surgery is a "one-shot deal"...I've been too scared to ask what that actually means.
Since we've been fairly home-bound lately, Nana and Papa have been pitching in and taking Maddie on fun holiday adventures, like visiting Santa downtown! Hopefully we'll be able to go as a family next year...I'd love to see Maddie's reactions in person. :-)
Maddie couldn't wait to see the train--especially since she saw the video on Alli's blog!
Writing a letter to Santa: "I want a blue bouncy ball and a red wagon for my dolls."
With all our hospital drama, my mom was kind and gracious enough to schlep all the Christmas Eve food and presents over to our house so that we could stay put. We had a wonderful evening full of laughter and great food and making memories together.
Enough of my talk--bring on the photos! :-)
Telling Grandma one of her "Princess Madeline" stories.
(Okay, Blogger is freaking out...I'll put up another post for Round 2!)
4 comments:
I love the pictures of Maddie and James together. So sweet!
James is a DOLL! I love all his hair. After the holidays I am cashing in my "get to hold James card" and comin over :) OH, and your family is such a blessing to me even reading about that ways they love you.
I too LOVE the family photos! I'm so glad your family was together for Christmas! We will continue to pray for Baby James and your family. Love and HUGS!
Bummer you had a rough time in Peds. We'll have to whip everyone into shape. I'm glad the whole fam got to be together for Christmas. I hope you had a good one.
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