:) How it is

I came in this morning and Avery was happily chomping on her pacifier and smiled at me when I said good morning! The nurse practioner came by and said she could go to general care now, yay. The bad news is, is when I asked about the wound-vac, she said it would be another 2 weeks on it. ugh. So that's how it is.

The Sun Will Come Out Tommorrow

When I packed clothes to come to the hospital, I packed for summer, as in no socks or long pants. Although it is summer, it's chilly in here and I have to go outside to warm up. :)

Avery's incision area had enough infection that you can still see the sternum when they change the wound-vac dressing. I guess it's still pretty big (not that I plan on seeing it at all, ick). I didn't realize this last week, but on a good note, it's moving along in the right direction- slowly. I don't know when she'll be off the wound-vac. I'm thinking Avery will still be here all next week. I hate to think I'll have to dry pack the incision at home (I'm not very good with looking at things like that), but home is good.

I'm reading a book called, "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. It takes place back in the pioneer days and early settlements of the west/mid-west. Anyhoo, I'm struck by the physical hardships they dealt with on a daily basis. We have it so easy by comparison. I may get upset if I can't log onto the computer, and they seemed content to sit and watch the wind blow the tall grass on the hill. What do we do with our free time?

Our house will be getting new windows later next week. How exciting! The old ones were the main drawback I had on selecting this house. Hopefully Eric can get some photos up here to share with you. ;) In the words of "Annie", "I think I'm gonna like it here."

She Smiled!!!

Avery's incision looks okay, and my only concern is that it's taking awhile. All the compassionate type nurses from last week are off, I guess and while I do appreciate competent nursing, I miss the nicer ones.

Avery is looking chubby and she was SMILING at me today! :) It's been two weeks, tomorrow, that she hasn't done that and so it's good to see it!!! She is going to be fine I believe. I am going a little stir crazy, but that's okay.

Zachery was misbehaving today and climbed up onto Grandma Marks's car roof and was jumping around. He's been trying to do this for a month and finally succeeded, I bet he was happy. We, on the other hand, are not, don't misunderstand. He did have time out. :)
Later, he and Eric played at our "playground", which is our backyard. Yay, a backyard. Zach was real sweet and they had a wonderful time.

One funny thing is, that there is a lively little skunk that lives on the path from here to the hospital and so far I've encountered it 3 times! The important thing is I've remained unscathed, smell-free. I'm still scared when I walk through there each night, though.

I am grateful for Avery's doing well. The infection is getting better, smaller. Timeline here is a week, or whenever the wound-vac comes off and looks good.

Have a great day!

Weekend

Anyhoo. Eric and Zachery were able to come up and spend the day with us on Sunday! Zachery of course always seeks to find something fun to do and bawks at just going in to see Avery. The "on the ball" nurse went and found some toys he could play with in the room and we set a blanket on the floor for him. Worked like a charm.


Later, Eric and Zach went up to the 8th floor for bingo and won/received crayons, coloring books and such. We also took a walk in the arboretum next door. There is a cute path called "fairy and troll path" where you can find little critter homes built by "fairies".

I am happy to say that Avery had a good weekend. She continues to be on the moderate care area (step-down from icu) and has had good, caring nurses all weekend. She also had the room, which holds 3 beds, all to herself so she could rest easier (lucky bonus). Now it's full.

Avery continues with the wound-vac on her incision to help drain infection. She will likely have that on for another 10 days (something that is keeping her here). She is on i.v. antibiotics and will have that run for another 6 weeks (minus a couple days). I'm happy that her new picc line (a more permanent i.v. line) that goes through her liver "trans hepatic" is more out of the way than if it was in her femoral/leg area.

She is looking more like her old self, packing it on a bit. :) The folks working with her are also trying to keep a balance of going down on her diuretics, and keeping her oxygen saturation up enough (so she doesn't sweat or work too hard when she eats). Diuretics are helping get rid of excess fluids from her lungs.

Friday Pics

Avery is wearing a "team Avery" bracelet made by Grandma Christensen and cousins. So cute.
This beautiful blanket was made with love by her aunt Somer. I love it! Notice the pink barrette in her hair, also fashioned by Somer. Thank you so much!
My guys. Eric and Zachery came up for a nice visit tonight. Here they are on our way back to the RonMcD house for tacos brought in by volunteers. Zach is growing up so fast.
I thought I'd share some pics of the 8th floor here. It's a family resource center and pretty much a place where families can go to relax and get away from the hospital feel. Here you can see they have scrapbooking supplies for anyone to use.
Computers, books, games, wii, and couches you can nap on.
From this view you can see the new Mott Women's and Children's hospital being constructed. It is a huge project.

Good Things

I am very nervous about Moderate Care today. I feel like some things are not taken seriously and I feel like I can't leave at night. I try to be there from late morning to about midnight (with some breaks while she is sleeping). I am frustrated by some seeminly apathetic employees. I know I care more about Avery than anyone else here, and I need to advocate for her. It's just so stressful sometimes.

Avery got a wound-vac put on her incision and started antibiotics yesterday. She's getting light pounding on her lungs to loosen secretions and suctioning through her nose to get it out as well. That happens every 2 hours and so she can't get a good sleep for too long and is so tired.

This morning Avery was npo (no food) because they were going to sedate her and change out an i.v. line that is leaking.

When do you speak up? What do you let go? When am I going to snap and possibly regret what I will say? I'm all wound up and edgy.

Avery is going to get i.v. antibiotics for 6 weeks, meaning she'll have an i.v. at home (yikes). I'll have a home health nurse stop by to help.

Breathe.

Eric's trial went fine, he said. A client that was not wanting to make a deal before his trial on Monday, may consider it now and the trial was pushed back to a later date. Which means Eric's weekend won't be so busy with work.


GOOD THINGS:

1) Yesterday, a friend who used to live in Toledo but has since moved up here, called and invited me to their house for dinner! It was good food and company. She is due with her fourth child this Nov.

2) I have 5 wonderful and beautiful sister-in-laws!

One of them, Somer (married to my older brother, Evan) sent us a nice package of things, like a pretty blanket for Avery (which I'll post later) and other lovely things. Thank you. Somer is very creative and is so kind and thoughtful and loves her brew like no other! You can read her sweet and poignant blog at http://rainydaywren.blogspot.com/.

Another one is, Andrea (Eric's older sister), who calls me to check up on me and is a very caring and attentive individual. She has her hand in a lot of things and loves to stay busy and do all the things she can to be a perfect mother! Andrea is a worker and is hoping to help out next year when Boise, ID hosts the special olympics. Andrea was my supervisor for my college internship back in the day. I can't believe I turned her down when she offered to set me up with her brother ;).

Jocelyn (married to Steven, a younger brother) is a former CNN producer and now loves and guides her two, soon to be three, kids. She is a go-getter and you can read more about them at http://beinglds.blogspot.com/.

Dixie (married to David, an older, younger brother) is carismatic and fun-loving. She is a travel agent and nurtures and laughs with her two girls out in CO. They recently bought a house. I wish she had a blog so I could check up on them :). Dixie is Oak City, UT's rook champion and loves to rock climb and play the piano.

And certainly not least, Liz (Eric's younger sister). She is a professional photographer and has her own studio. They even bought the building it's in, which shows she is quite the entrepreneur. She even flipped a house (with her own bare hands);), and wouldn't mind doing it again, crazy girl. Liz is a whipper-snapper and shows concern for those around her. She is shorter than me, and a busy-bee as well. Liz is a wise mother and all around easy-going girl. You can check out her business at http://argylephotography.com/.

Much Better :)

Avery resting this afternoon. Notice the addition of the smiley flower. I'm too short to reach over and give her a kiss, but the happy flower reaches. Thanks Somer!
This picture is a few weeks old, but her look is priceless. She loves her fingers.

Avery moved to moderate care today and it's been a good experience thus far. :) I came back to RonMcD house this afternoon for some r & r. Avery is doing much better. She still has coughing fits, but not so bad now, and a slight temperature. Hopefully no infection, but all in all I'm feeling good about things right now.

Eric is busy with work, preparing for a divore trial tomorrow. yikes. I hope all goes well, for Eric I mean :). Zachery has been spending some quality time with Grandma Marks and enjoying playdates with some great friends, thanks!