Yesterday Kyrie was pretty low key. We tried to get him up and walking as much as possible, but he wasn't interested. He was able to eat regular foods yesterday but was mostly interested in dry cereal. He had quite a few high pain moments, which are so tricky to manage as a parent.
How bad is this? Is it going to pass in two minutes? How fast will this tylenol kick in? Is it time for the heavy stuff? Do I really want to give my four year old narcotics? No. Let's wait. Wait... should we really wait? He's in a lot of pain. Oh, maybe it's getting better. No - not better. Do I call the nurse again? This can't go on forever. I can't believe it's going on forever. Oh, okay, he's asleep now. That wasn't so bad. Well, it was kind of awful. Can we really go home if he is still hurting like this?
But besides these moments, the rest of the day he's fine. This happened about 4 times yesterday. Enough that Dave and I were thankful we were still at the hospital. Infrequent enough that we're hopeful it's just part of the healing process.
Today he's only had one or two moments like that. But I'm at a loss. I don't know how to help him.
It's so hard to soothe him when he's so uncomfortable. The nurse thinks it could just be gas trapped that hasn't found it's way out. If that is the case, I for sure don't want to give him heavy pain meds. But a four year old has a really hard time determining if his tummy hurts because of gas, or at the place of his incision, or if it's a sharp pain, or a general tummy ache. It all comes out tearfully as, "My tummy hurts." And at this point all that makes him feel better is snuggling with mommy and eating those stinking Cheerios! Not the cake, pie, or ice cream on his meal plates. And I would totally let him eat those first. Just plain Cheerios.
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| Today we got outside for a walk and checked out the courtyard. Plus, now that the IV isn't hooked up, he gets to wear his own clothes, which he was thrilled about. |
At this point we're still hopeful that we get discharged tomorrow. There was one small hiccup tonight that makes us a little nervous that we might get stuck longer for observation. I mean, we want to stay if it's medically necessary. But all the Stefaniches are ready to be back under the same roof.
In the midst of Kyrie's biggest pain episode tonight, his nurse was asking me some questions about the output of his stoma. There is a lot of evidence that it's working, but not as much action in the last 12 hours. She wanted the surgeon to know and come check him out since he was complaining of so much pain (aka - crying and was unable to be comforted.) Kyrie doesn't exactly tell the doctors and nurses how he's feeling when they ask. It's either quiet shy Kyrie - who is feeling pretty good. Or sobbing, crying Kyrie, who is obviously not feeling good. The surgeon checked him out and seemed only a little concerned. His tummy is mildly distended again, so she said if its any worse tomorrow that we'll do another X-ray. So we're still hopeful that we'll get to go home tomorrow, but we'll see. Every one of us might go a little stir crazy if we're stuck here another day and night, but at least we have my 20 week ultrasound to look forward to tomorrow.
Aside from the distended tummy and very rare spikes of pain, my boy is feeling much better. He's walking around, and playing so much more. And today he started laughing and giggling again for the first time since we got here. Which quickly turns to whimpers because laughing hurts when you have an incision on your tummy.
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| Today I saw many glimpses of my silly, happy boy. It was just the healing my worried mommy heart needed. Just look at this face! |
We're getting there :) The end of this hospital stay and the beginning of normal life is around the corner. Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. We feel so blessed to have so much love and support right now!
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