Bug Juice......

Jophie came through the procedure just fine. The actual surgery only took about 30 minutes followed by 30 minutes in recovery. They did have a hard time placing the initial IV that would deliver the sedation. He was a bit dehydrated like I expected so the veins kept blowing that is the ones you could see. I'm so thankful it only took about 18 attempts and of course Jophie is always so good and never even whimpers. It kills me to watch him suffer so but bless his heart he's just so used to all this it has become second nature to him. After recovery we went straight to the peds floor into a negative air pressure room which protects him against germs. They are so good to him! The first dose of antibiotic arrived in the room quickly and he had no adverse reactions to it! Praise God!

The nurse had the discharge papers ready in no time at all but then we did run into a little snag. Jophies Aide that was with me became deathly ill and was unable to travel home with us. We had to call her husband to come pick her up. It's about a 40 minute drive from West Virginia back into Ohio for me so needless to say it was a scary ride home. We lie him on his side on the back bench seat then use the shoulder belt around his torse/chest and use the middle belt around his hips/thighs/legs. He actually is very secure but its impossible for me to get him in or out alone. One of the nurses from the peds floor helped us down to the van and also helped me get him loaded.

As we headed home alone I became even more nervous. He still was a bit sedated and I was worried about his airway, about him getting sick and or needing suctioned, about him getting too hot and let me tell you it was hot as blazes! I do have air in the van but not dual so not much reaches him not to mention I can't see him because of the way I have to situate the wheelchair. The trip ended up being uneventful except now I had to figure out how in the world I was going to get him out of the van and into the house alone.

My cell phones battery has been on the fizzle for some time and after about 3 unsuccessful calls at the hospital the battery was showing basically dead. On the way home I kept thinking if I could just get ONE call out of it I might be able to round up someone to meet me at the house so I flipped that thing open and would you believe I had a full charge! Yep.....It's a God thing. :0) I was able to call my neighbor and also made a second call to my friend who also is Jophies nurse. They both meet me in the driveway when we got home. Between all 3 of us we were able to transfer him safely and more importantly gently as he was in considerable pain.

The first night Jophies nurse and I had a terrible time getting ahead of his pain. We just kept pushing tylenol every 4 hours trying to get him comfy. He is unable to lie on the PICC line side without severe pain and agitation which had me worried. He has had 3 previous lines placed and although they were a bit sore it has never been anything like this. Because it is in an artery they apply a 24 hour pressure dressing so by last night that needed to be removed. I was horrified to find this. No wonder the little guy couldn't lie on that side.

Sherrie(his pediatrician) had actually phoned yesterday to check on him and wanted to know what the PICC line sight looked like but, at the time I still hadn't removed it. This morning I sent an email to her with a picture attached so she could take a peek. I'm just waiting on her return call with an opinion as to whether it looks normal or not. Jophie has never bruised like that with any of his other line placements. As a matter of fact I don't recall him EVER having a bruise that bad. The only thing that concerns me would be low platelets, the hematoma and swelling near the top or possibly something I'm unaware of. So we wait and see.

The first night we were home this was about the only position he was comfy. He's happy on his left side as well but after so long even that gets sore.

One thing I find just adorable is that he and the IV pole have become best buddies! Jophie is visually impaired so he doesn't see well. The first time I pushed that thing near his bed he just started grinning and talking to it. Well not talking like you and I would but rather "Jophie talk" cooing and jabbering just like a baby would. It think we should name it and give it a hat. What do you think? LOL

3:00 a.m.

Gettin me some Bug Juice and talkin to my new buddy

FINALLY! Some relief! We finally managed to get the tylenol going round the clock and he just crashed from exhaustion.

Party Time! I think this was around 4:00 a.m.! LOL

Last night and today has been rougher on him. He's still having significant pain in that arm, some fevers and now we are beginning to see some of the side effects of this antibiotic. It always seems to get a bit worse before it gets better. No worries though! We're in it for the long haul! :0)

For now we continue to pray, enjoy his smiles and for heavens sake don't forget.

"HANG THAT BUG JUICE!" LOL

Thank you all for your continued prayers.

Walking in his SONshine