pin care and therapy

We were able to get a better handle on the pain. That was a relief. The nurses did pin care for Jack, basically they washed the fixator with a peroxide solution. They had a child-life specialist come with them. Her name is Shira and she is by far the best person in this hospital. Basically, her job was to explain to Jack what they were going to do and then to keep him distracted while they did the cleaning. She worked wonders!!! Not a single wimper during the whole cleaning. What a relief.




The PT came in to do a little therapy. I really wanted to get him out of bed, but he was so scared that it would hurt that he was fighting us. We did get him to sit on the side of the bed but he was so upset it wasn't worth doing much more. I was disapointed because I really wanted just to hold him on my lap, but while he was sitting up I did get to give him some hugs which felt really good.

He fell asleep immediately after the PT left. He is on so much pain medication that he's in this semi-sedated state. It's nice to know he's not hurting so much anymore, but it's so hard to see my vibrant boy struggling to keep his eyes open.

We did get some visitors today. Jack had a friend from school that stopped by with his parents. Jack was sleeping so he didn't actually get to see him, but they left an amazing care package that warmed his little heart up when he saw it. My parents brought Max by. Oh, how I miss that little guy. He was his normal, bouncy self and the normalcy that he brought into the hosptial room was such a relief. Jack was so excited to see his nana and papa. He played a little, ate a little, and fell back to sleep. It was so hard to say good-bye to Max but he was happy with going back home with my parents. Mia is doing great with my sister's family. She's quite attached to my sister and insists that Mindi holds her all the time. It is such a relief to know she's happy, but we miss her so much!!! Miss Mia usually goes everywhere with me, so I'm having a hard time going so long without seeing her. My brother and his wife also came to visit and as always, the laughter that Rick provided was great. It's nice to laugh and forget how crappy our current situation is.

Let's pray that the pain continues to be managed. I am dreaming of getting that epidural out, so we can lose all these wires and tubes. I joined a online support group for parents of kids with fixators and my inbox has several messages of other moms telling me we just have to get through these first 2 weeks. They've promised me that in 2 weeks, I'll be yelling at Jack to settle down or he's going to break the fixator. Right now, that seems hard to believe. I've asked myself a hundred times if this is worth it. I know that 5 months from now I will be so glad we did this, but right now it's hard to think we chose to do this.

Tomorrow afternoon, I'm going to get the little ones and spend the night at home with them. I'm hoping to leave Max with a friend on Tuesday and come back to the hospital with Mia. I'll continue to be back and forth until Jack is home. It kills me to think of leaving him, but I think the little ones need their mom too. Jon will be here with Jack at all times...he is just amazing with all of this. His medical training definitely is a blessing at times like this and he's a great dad...so I know Jack will be in great hands.

So tonight we are hopeful. In a much better place than we were last night. We know that this WILL get better, so we're full of prayer and as always, trying to focus on the positives. My sister in law told me that Old Navy is having their $1 flip flop sale this weekend...I just may have to go seeing as I promised Jack a pair in every color :)