David is getting to remember what a slave driver I am post surgery when it comes to rehabbing him. Yesterday when Dr. H told me that unless I tried to fold him in two, I pretty much was not going to damage him, it has given me more confidence in how I can move and interact with him physically.
When his hospital PT came in yesterday evening, he was really tired and I think there was pain involved but we did get him to stand with minimal human support and only holding on to his walker. It lasted only seconds before his legs began to shake, but it was a huge accomplishment.
Today there are storms brewing both inside and apparently outside too. I took my first venture outside of the pediatric floor and went to Walgreen's for a bit. The air is thick and the sky is darkish and hazy. It is the kind of weather my mom used to call "Tornado weather." I am very sure there are storms brewing as today is suppose to be in the upper 70s to low 80s and then tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30s. You don't have that kind of fluctuation without some kind of storm brewing.
Inside the hospital room there are storms brewing too. David's irritable side is starting to show it's ugly head as well as his stubbornness when it comes to PT. All morning he has been sullen and irritable causing consequences (taking the balloons away) for his actions. They have cut way back on his pain meds with the hope that tomorrow when we leave this place he will be on tylenol and ibuprofen and nothing more. I am sure that the combination of pain, the frustration of having a rod in his back and the fact that I am on top of him constantly telling him what to do is getting ready to cause a storm here too. Thank God we aren't here another 8-10 days!!!!
Through it all though, he is a trooper. PT came in this morning and his sullen face became even more sullen until I told him that if he did his PT like he was supposed to, that he could play with his balloons again. Although he still wasn't totally on board with the concept of having to work in pain, he did buckle down and do what was asked of him. Today he stood with even less help three times for 10 seconds each. Each time he was more and more weight baring which was amazing. On the third time though, his legs were becoming jelly and anymore would have been too much for him. However, he was not ready to go back to bed, so he opted for time in his wheelchair which is where he now sits, playing with his balloons while I blog about him. He seems comfortable and the sullenness is gone.....for now.
Yesterday he lost just about all of his tubes including another IV (down to one now), his drain and all of his heart monitors. All we have now is the O2 sat monitor, the occasional bp cuff and the IV. What a difference three days makes. On a side note, yesterday when they removed the drain, (btw....drains are part of the reason I could never be a nurse), I got to see the incision. Let me tell you, that is a thing of beauty. He has had a lot of surgeries, but I don't think he has ever had an incision so beautifully done. Once healed, even though the incision is about 14 inches long, it is so thin that the scar will be minimal. I was truly impressed.
So we are waiting on the storms. I can even feel the unrest in my own usually "vibrant" self. It's a feeling I usually look forward to this time of year. The static in the air mixed with the humidity and heat. Of course feeling it from a hospital room isn't great, but it could surely be so much worse so no complaints here.
Today is good and miraculous and once again I can find a million and one reasons to be grateful for.....even in the midst of the brewing storms.
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