March 15, 2021 (Day 60 in the hospital)-12th wound vac change
Rayden's wound vac has been alarming on and off since Saturday morning. It says blockage alert but we can't find a blockage. If Rayden moves a certain way it will stop beeping but there is obviously something wrong with it. The nurses paged the Plastic Surgery team but they didn't respond, so they changed the canister Sunday morning and it stopped for a couple of hours but went right back. It started going off this morning about 1am!!!! It continued throughout the rest of the night so Rayden nor I got good sleep.
I ordered a special spray adhesive remover to help the surgeon take the wound vac tape off easier and faster. It's called SENSI-CARE Sting-Free Adhesive Releaser Spray. The nurses borrowed it from a parent on the 5th floor last week and it works amazingly. You just spray it around the edges of the tape and it starts rolling up itself. You would think the hospital would have this spray themselves but they don't!! I had to order it on Amazon. It was only 1.7oz and cost $24.09! The hospital has this product only in a little cotton swab form, so they have to pull the tape and try to rub under it as they go along. It's a long agonizing process.
The plastic surgeon came around 10am to do his dressing change. The Adhesive Releaser did an amazing job of helping the tape roll off instead of so much pulling, but it still hurt and made Rayden cry before it was all over. The surgeon said the same old thing...it's getting better. The walls are really caving in on the giant, triangular shaped AlloDerm. The only thing we can see of it now is a slender, rectangular shaped piece. The yellow fibrous tissue that was around the inside of the wound is almost all gone as well. She believes it was clogging up the sponge making the machine think there was a blockage.
When we left the room this morning, Rayden went straight to Monica to tell her his badge was so heavy it was pulling his clothes down. She fixed that problem by giving him a lanyard. He quickly hugged her neck and began showing it off to all the staff. Gina was afraid Rayden would like Monica more, so she fixed that by giving him an entire bag of Sour Patch Kids candy. This kid is getting spoiled by the minute.
He did the best he's ever done with Mrs. Bergman, the hospital teacher, today. He was so engaged and paying attention so well that when it was over he actually said, "No, I wasn't done!" This NEVER comes out of his mouth about school! I was so proud of him. Of course Andrew, the science guy, brought Rayden a new activity today. It was another dinosaur dig with a few dinosaur friends to go along with it.
Rayden met a new little friend on the floor today. He's only 3 years old. They immediately started racing down the hall. He REALLY needs to play with his friends again. I feel like he's been in prison away from EVERYONE he knows and loves. It's just terrible. I try so hard to fill his days with fun and laughter as much as I can, but it's not the same as living your life.
March 16, 2021 (Day 61 in the hospital)
Rayden and I have this routine thing down pat. Sometimes we switch it up but mostly it's the same old thing. He and I both do best with a set routine. Today we added 'gymnastics' to the mix. It's actually PT, but since they use the mat he calls it gymnastics. Elizabeth, from child life, brought me a form to fill out about a program called Beads of Courage. It's a program that gives beads to children as a tangible symbol of their experiences. Every time he has shown an act of courage there is a different bead to receive. There are beads for surgeries, MRI's, IV's, hospital stays, castings, procedures, etc. She realized we were far behind in this program because he has shown SO many acts of courage throughout his short life already, but we are going to try to get it as close as possible to the past and just build from now on. Luckily, I have my blog to use as reference.
We received a surprise blessing today when Abby Barefoot texted me saying she was bringing us dinner. She also brought gifts to Rayden and I both. He cannot open his until tomorrow because she said it was a "St. Patrick's Day party in a bag!" He's so excited. She prayed with us right there on the sidewalk. We also got a special monetary gift from my Uncle Don and Aunt Kathy Abernathy today. Lord, you always send us just what we need.
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