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November 27, 2007

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Well, today is the day Michael gets a bigger trach. We have mixed feelings about this, but it needs to be done. The remaining question is what kind of trach? Will it be one just like the one he has, but bigger, or will it be a much longer one that sticks out much further and has a spring on it? We will have to let you know. Again, we have mixed feelings. I have to admit, I'm pretty anxious.

It has been an interesting period of time for us, nursing wise. We are precertified through Christmas, but staffing hasn't been as easy as it was in November. We have a new day shift nurse who can come some days but not all, and our weekend night shift nurse is not allowed to work anymore (she's 8 months pregnant) so we have lots of new people coming in. And, Michael is now old enough to really notice and to object. We can't just let him wake up to a new face in his room without risking some serious tears and anxiety, poor little guy.

Our Saturday nurse couldn't come because her car wouldn't start. Our Sunday dayshift nurse couldn't come because of a prior commitment that she had overlooked when scheduling. Our Sunday night shift nurse couldn't come because she said she was getting sick. Our Monday dayshift nurse called in sick, but she was willing to come with a mask and gloves. We said no. Of all these, only the Monday nurse was able to be replaced. *sigh* MAdam ark and I learned that our hideabed couch is really VERY comfortable -- more so than some of our spare beds -- so you can't fool us anymore when you come to visit!! Anyway, we spent Sunday night in the family room so we could get up with Michael when the monitor rang every 15 or so minutes. Long night, but a lot easier than trying to stay up with him in shifts when there is only two of us around to split the shifts.

Couple that with Michael's ever increasing suctioning requirements (about 3 times in ten minutes when he is awake) and you can understand why we are looking forward to the HOSPITAL in December. Hopefully palate closure surgery will show some outward physical improvement in Michael's secretions and his ability to eat. It would be nice to feel like we were swimming laps again instead of treading water. (I have to work on these analogies -- if you swim laps, aren't you backtracking over the same spot again and again? I need to think these things through a bit better, I guess!)

On the flip side, we saw the Pedes yesterday for a checkup. Michael is great -- 13 1/2 pounds and 25 1/4 inches tall. The doctor watched him rolling around and said he has all the muscle strength and coordination to roll from back to front whenever he feels like it -- we just have to find something to motivate him appropriately. I forsee that his toys will be just out of his reach for awhile....

We are eagerly looking forward to the time when we can open our home to visitors again and begin taking Michael out into public. Poor kid has been sick almost all of November, and we just can't risk more contaigon. How about a nice Valentines Day party?

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