Against our better judgement, the other 4 Kornets visited Becca this afternoon at the hospital and on into dinner. She had a good night last night, although the sleep was far from uninterrupted what with the every-4-hour vitals checking and general 24/7 bustle of a large hospital surgical recovery floor. She is off the pain meds they gave her last night and the infection seems largely under control. She will stay admitted again tonight but tomorrow after breakfast she comes home. Yay!
Don't be alarmed by the surgery thing. She had no surgery. Our breast surgeon wanted to be the one to keep an eye on Becca, and so Becca needed to be where she rounds. Becca clearly needed the least amount of recovery of all the patients on the floor, but it was good to see this excellent facility where Becca will be spending a much longer stay roundabout May or so. It really seems like it is brand new, and the nursing staff was exemplary, shift after shift.
The other cool thing was that the kids and I arrived while the surgeon was checking in on Becca, and she took the time to talk to the kids about what mommy is going through and why she will be really tired sometimes in the coming months. The kids sat transfixed. They were certainly not expecting to be addressed directly, much less told to ask the surgeon any questions they wanted to any time. Not that we're going to give them her pager number, but she really pulled them in as part of the team to get mommy better.
Our doctor friends warned us back in November before we met any of the team that the only doctor we had to "like" was our oncologist. Becca would be seeing her for the rest of her life probably, and bedside manner was absolutely crucial. The surgeon, not so much. All we were looking for was talent. After all you're pretty much knocked out for the important time she's "by" your "bed"!
So imagine the bedside manner it takes to pull our kids in like this surgeon did today. And imagine a nurse coming in to see Becca for the first time after a shift change, seeing Becca's doctor's name, smiling, and saying ooo you've got one of the best ones. I know I have bubbled over a lot about our doctors here, but the blog is really supposed to be about how we are doing, and these doctors just have such an enormous effect on that. If I feel strongest when I'm with Becca, I've got it double when her doctors are in the room too.
Anyway, we also found out today that although we were sure he had turned a corner with the arrival of kindergarten, Sammy is still the linch pin of any family excursion. I've often commented that he could find real work as a test subject for childproofing absolutely anything. If there is a dangerous way to touch, move, lick, climb upon, or do anything else to any given object, Sammy will find it in record time. You'd think that in general a hospital room has to be fairly safe. Things have to be built to accommodate falling patients, frantic procedures and the like. Well, to get an idea of Sammy in the hospital room, read the next paragraph as fast as you can...
Mommy can I press this button? how about this one? what does this lever do? I can reach that bag on the pole. What is that liquid in it? Can I taste that? What is that on your tray? Why does that tube go into your arm? Can I touch that? Where does it hurt? Can I see it? Does it hurt when I press here? Can I eat your food? Don't worry I'll reach it. (crash) What's that button? Can I press that one? Can I take off my shoes? This floor is slippery! I can crawl around like a dog! I bet I can fit under your bed! There's nobody in this other bed! Does this bed have the same buttons? Can I press those too? Who is that out in the hall? I'm going to crawl over and peek out!
If it had been being actively monitored, I bet we would have been able to see Becca's blood pressure rising in real time. We think Sammy might have knocked her IV needle out a little bit at one point, and, and... oh my goodness that child. We left quite suddenly and I never should have let him have a nap on the way in.
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Oh my god! What a week. LOL with Sammy! Indeed, he has a bright future in safety testing, or maybe he could help the folks doing cardiac stress tests. Look forward to seeing you guys now that we are back in town.
ReplyDeleteBig XOXO from the Lloyds!