The Tale of the Patient Patient

Like I mentioned before, I took lots and lots of photos while Miles was in the hospital this week. The fact that they were almost all taken in the same little room doesn't mean anything -- it was my little one's journey I was chronicling, and sometimes I would think, 'Why am I taking all of these pictures?' But I kept coming back to the fact that this is something we can look back on and see how well we -- especially Miles -- handled all of it. Going through what we did almost two years ago has at least prepared Casey and I somewhat for this sort of thing, although it's certainly not the same when it's your child rather than yourself in that bed (no matter the length of time).

When I walked in the room the first morning after Miles had been there, this was what I saw:

Casey stayed the first night, and it didn't go all that well. Miles was getting breathing treatments every three hours, around the clock. On top of that, he was supposed to be sleeping in a regular hospital bed, and he is still in a crib at home. Then the bed had a mist tent over part of it that he needed to be kept underneath as much as possible. That's not very easy with a toddler, but since we were under there with him some of the time, he got more used to it. I couldn't believe he was asleep when I came in that morning because it was around 10 a.m., but since the night hadn't gone well, Miles was exhausted and finally gave in to sleep.

We tried to keep him occupied, make things as fun as possible in between the medicine and breathing treatments. He did well with his coloring books and our little portable DVD player. I'm not sure how many times Miles watched Elmo's Adventures in Grouchland, but some of those songs are still going around in my head! I was mostly just glad to see him eating something and being a little more like himself on our first full day there.

We had several visitors, and people were so kind to bring little things for Miles. John and Brandi gave him a Mr. Potato Head, which he is still choosing above his other toys. While they visited, we even had a 'backscratch line' going: Brandi scratching Miles' back, John scratching Brandi's back. Okay, it was mostly just for the picture. And he received two helium balloons ("boon!"), which were really given a beating now and again. Daniel, Ashley and Isaac brought a coloring book and markers, which you can see Miles and Brandi working on together ("Miles, don't turn the page yet, I'm still coloring this butterfly!").

By morning two (Wednesday), Miles was wanting out of that bed. And that was a good thing, only he was still attached to the IV pole, and since he was mostly unaware of that we were constantly trying to keep him from stepping on it or twisting up in it. Okay, so I tripped over the thing twice. I'm mostly telling that before Casey can -- again. Thankfully the IV was taken out that evening, so his sleep was much more restful, and he was able to run around so much more the next morning as we waited for those discharge papers.

I am so proud of my boy. I was so impressed at how well he handled everything. When his nurse would bring the Tylenol (and it wasn't the yummy kind), he would make a face and do just a tiny bit of whining -- but in that same moment he would open his mouth and accept it like a trooper. When it was time for those dreaded breathing treatments, he was very unhappy. But after it got going, he would sit still and wait it out (and three minutes is a long time for a little one). When it was over, and the mask would come off, Miles was instantly happy again like, Was that it? That was nothing! And he was so talkative with all his nurses and his doctor, even though no one knew what he was saying. Except for that one time when one of the nurses pulled out a big saline flush, and Miles said, "Wow!"

We're just glad it's over, at least the hospital part. The breathing treatments will continue for a couple of weeks -- four times a day -- and there's an antibiotic (but at least it's yummy). Thanks so much to all who have had us in their prayers this week, and for letting me share.