Friday, May 11, 2012

Happy Days Are Here Again....

Thanks to Liv's sleeping meds (that they give in place of a sedating antihistamine during your first few days in the Peds Program), she managed to sleep the entire night (so rare in our world) and woke up in a surprisingly pleasant mood.  She still had the pH probe in place, she was hungry and she was ready for her morning vitals - all in all, the night portion of the probe was a success! Okay, so Liv was going nuts for ice cold water all morning, apparently the cold helps the throat to not feel so funny - by way of "numbing".  That's okay, I'll take this any day over the hysterics and sadness.

After morning vitals, meds and ointment/creams were done, she was really wanting to head to the playroom that had evaded her for the first two days - she just knew there was a world of *magic* in that room. I agreed, she needed something to take her mind off the pH probe, so off we went.....only to find it *gasp* closed!  I asked the nurses if there was another way to get into the playground - or another playground for her to play on. They gave us some bubbles to play with outside (normally for bath time for the AD patients) and told us to try the school playground (if you didn't know, NJH has a school on campus - it's pretty neat!) - but to be ready to hear them say we can't use it, because it does belong to the school after all.  Liv heard this and I saw the ornery little spark in her eyes LIGHT up! I checked our schedule and we had some free time - off we went again.  I was too chicken to go through the gates to the playground at the school and Liv was really set on breaking the rules, ha!  We did some exploring instead and still did some "sneaking" around (Liv insisted we try to get to the ped's playground from the stairs out back, even though we knew there was a gate...she is *sneaky*) - her joy and her smile were both returning - probe and all.

Liv with her pH probe and the machine around her shoulder is the "diary" of sorts to collect data such as laying down, eating, sleeping, tightness in the throat, coughing, etc.....(you push the button during these recordings to keep track). 

Running, jumping and playing around - just making me laugh my head off really.

Once we got done "sneaking" around main campus, we headed back in - just in time to find the playroom open. Liv was beside herself with excitement and started what would be the "art event" of her year...the entire two weeks was.  Other than having the probe in, this day was quite uneventful and thank goodness for that, we needed the recovery time. As you can see in the following pictures, we pretty much took it easy until the probe came out. 

We're what you call "serious folk", true story!

Patiently waiting on the nurse I was not exactly kind to the day before - to take the probe out (She would later become our favorite nurse - she is amazing!).

Yep, she is definitely my child.

She's so goofy! I posted the above pictures to show that she recovered from the day before without any issue or emotional toll being taken. (Note the "shark teeth" I mentioned in regards to the Hyper IgE Syndrome).

And then....finally....our 24 hours was up and it was time for that probe to come out - yeah! I'll admit, this part was a bit difficult for Liv too (nothing like putting it in), she's had enough IV's and needles that she is not a fan of having tape pulled off her skin. Once we convinced her to let us take the tape off, she was told to take a deep breath and slowly let it out...when she let her breath out, the nurse was quick about pulling the probe out of her nose. I was pretty grossed out by this as I imagine it to feel like the worlds longest booger coming out of your nose - yep, you're welcome for *that* happy little visual. This would be the end of our stay for Day Three (outside of the happy little video below).


Who says Asthmatics can't or don't like running? After the probe came out, it was like they let her out of a cage - she was a running maniac!

Prior to the above video, I did go to a class on Atopic Dermatitis (the reason I am now referring Liv's Eczema to Atopic Dermatitis or AD vs Eczema) - I will go into my notes from that class, but that's a post for another time. :)

Thanks for being on this journey with us (even if you're getting the details after the fact - it's appreciated).

Our love to you and yours!

Billie





















2 comments:

  1. Loved your silly faces-you really look so much alike : ) I enjoyed reading this-what a strong girl and momma!

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  2. Thank you! She really is my little "mini-me", it's crazy. I'm going to say that she is definitely stronger than momma (I put on a good front for her though!). :)

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