happy thanksgiving - day 4

Not sure how it's happened this way, but Ben has had 2 bad nights with Ted. And tonight I'm going to have my 2nd good night with him. I'm starting to feel a wee bit guilty. I'm really encouraging him to go to the game tomorrow.

Yesterday evening, they took Ted off the IV anti-inflammatory he was on and didn't replace it with anything. Plus the nurse didn't wake Ted up every 4 hours like they should've to give him his Tylenol. So, the combination of the two (and the fact that we were never really on a great schedule with the two) was a pretty big setback as Ted's pain just got out of control. And when he's in pain, it's almost like Ted is possessed. It's weird and strange. There's no reasoning with him, no talking him through things, all he does is cry and fight and yell. So at midnight last night, Ben had a 45 minute "episode" and then again around 7 am this morning. Then Ted started throwing up again.

So we started from scratch. He got Zofran and went back on his two IV meds - he would get one or the other every 3 hours.

Ted slept till around noon.

With one break from visitors to get a vanilla milkshake.

Ben and I ate a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner from the Waterfront Hotel - thanks, Sara!

and watched football

While Ted watched a movie on the ipad

 Ben and I ate and snuggled up for an after lunch nap. Around 3:00 his movie ended and he was a new kid . . . again. Happy, talkative, hopped out of bed to use the bathroom by himself, wanted to play and draw and in general a beautiful disposition. Even some manners in there.

We spent the afternoon playing.

Ted's drawing of the hospital. The darker window on the taller building is his room.

We played Phase 10

played air hockey, fooseball, trains and little people and
did an impossible craft in the playroom

Ted took silly pictures of his already crazy face on the phone while he snuggled in bed with daddy

And I taught him how to play Mancalla.

We gave him a "bath" and actually made him get in bed for bedtime. Tomorrow we start oral meds at 6am. We've made a chart tonight for his oral meds that is until 9pm tomorrow - 6 rounds. If he takes them without whining, crying, fits and in a timely fashion he gets to choose pizza or a Cheddar's big cookie when we go home. We've talked a lot about how the Dr.'s won't let us go home if he won't take his medicine well. We'll see when the time actually comes.

Visitors Today:
Sam & Whitney Snyder

Hannah & Maggie Clements

Tanner Coombs

Doh & Aunt Stephanie

Mr. Locke

Visitors Tuesday (because I forgot):

Seth & Stacy Broadhurst

Jay Teodoro

Beth McCauley & DJ Currence

What I'm thankful for today:

- that Ted is doing so well and we're only working on pain management

- that we know he's going home soon

- his need to be here is not b/c of some lifelong or terminal illness

- nurses, doctors, pharmacists and cafeteria people that work on holidays

- pediatric nurses

- smart, smart doctors

- friends who love us

- family that helps take care of us, brings butterscotch pies and keeps our other kid

Tomorrow is the WVU/Pitt Game. The Blue Lot (aka the hospital parking lot) opens at 7am for tailgating. The game isn't until 7pm. So we're going to stay put on this end of town for the day. And we might bum some food from some tailgates instead of fighting traffic and going elsewhere - the cafeteria here is horrible! If we're still here tomorrow night, we'll be watching the game on tv and from our window. Hopefully we'll see some of you tomorrow in the Blue and Silver Lots tomorrow!