Day four here at the hospital. Those pre-Fontan days are seeming like a lifetime ago. Someday these Fontan days will seem like a lifetime ago too. But for now I am enjoying all this time just with Asher, and today I felt like we had a lot of fun times together with him feeling a lot better. He told me when he woke up this morning that he was feeling better today, and in his cute little prayer over his breakfast of pancakes (of which he only ate half), he thanked Heavenly Father that he is feeling better, and he prayed for his brothers and sister, and that he could be nice to his friends when he gets back home.
Asher had a good night last night, taking his medicine okay with some coaxing, and going back to sleep after they emptied his drains at 1:00 and 5:00. This morning, the nurse came in and wrote down our plan for the day, which was super helpful. He loved his nurse today, and I think she helped break through a bit of his fear of them. He has started crying whenever anyone walks in the room, afraid of what they are going to have to do, but that had eased a bit by the end of the day, and she will be our nurse tomorrow too so that will be helpful. He told me tonight that the nurses are really nice, but he just doesn’t like what he has to do with them.
My mom came up mid-morning with Madeleine, and she had fun eating all the m&m’s stashed in the cupboard for when they come to visit while grandma visited. I can’t imagine doing all this without my mom here. She takes care of all the them, getting the ready for school, making them meals, getting them to their sports activities, and giving them the routine they need to feel like things aren’t too chaotic. She makes it so I can just focus on Asher and not worry about the rest of the clan at home.
Right after Shane got here, a couple of people from his work came by and brought Asher a really cool Lego fireman set. He was excited to be able to put it together. He also got a delivery of a fun stuffed animal with a big bouquet of balloons on it, also from Shane’s work. They have been so great through all of Asher’s surgeries, taking good care of us and being flexible with Shane.
After some lunch and some books with dad, Asher took a nap for a bit. He woke up to Uncle Kelly and Aunt Jessa coming for a visit. While they were here, we heard a helicopter coming, so we hurried out to the end of the hall to see it land. He’s been wanting to see one since we got here, and he finally felt well enough to make it there in time. Just after Kelly and Jessa left, someone came by from art therapy and brought Asher and canvas and some paints. He wanted to sit in the chair while he painted, and he chatted away with me and Shane as he painted his picture.
I asked Asher to smile for a picture and this is what I got. And Shane reading books before Asher’s nap.
Going with Kelly and Jessa to see the helicopter.
More medications and emptying of his pleural caths required an orange popsicle to help cheer him up. They also took off his telemetry monitoring (all the stickers with cords on them – there were five across his chest). It made it so much easier for him to move around, and he felt like he could put a shirt on now. He was a bit worried that it would hurt his incision, but he was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t bug him at all. He had one more medicine to take, which was my fault because when I was giving it to him, it squirted out too fast and didn’t make it in his mouth. Mom fail. Shane told him if he took it he could look at a gift one of his colleagues had sent for Asher. It was a really fun motorcycle that he could put together, and he had fun doing that and it was a nice distraction from yucky medicine.
You Tube videos and popsicles for the win!
He then wanted to go back down to the garden and blow some bubbles. We had a great time down at the garden. Asher blew some bubbles, and he wanted Shane and I to also. He had fun watching them float away, popping them, and trying to see which one lasted the longest.
This evening, Shane went home to be with the boys at a father/son activity. Asher wanted me to play some Mario with him, and we were in the middle of a level when they came in to do his pleural caths. We convinced him to keep on playing, and he didn’t even scream this time. He only whimpered a bit as we turned him from one side to the other.
After several rounds of Mario 3D world (of which I am sure clueless at!), I asked him if he wanted to work on his Lego firetruck some more. He said yes, but then said, “Mom, can I just go to sleep now? I’m tired. Will you sleep by me?” Of course, sweet boy. Of course.
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