[The view of the San Gabriels from Ryan's hospital room this afternoon.]
Just as my orthopedic surgeon promised, I was able to drive today without any issues and so the girls and I drove to COH to hang out with Ryan and Jason. We also took them fresh clothes as well as some books & toys to keep Ryan busy. It was great seeing a lot of the night nurses, who became like family last year after we practically lived at COH most of fall. Our Aunt Debbie also stopped by for a quick visit and to bring some goodies for Ryan and us (thank you Debbie, & Bernardo, too, for all the yummy treats!).
We are not sure if Ryan will be spending a total of 7 or 10 days in the hospital... I saw one of his doctors today as I walked onto the peds floor, and she chatted a bit with me about his status. He definitely had a staph infection in his blood, and it was most likely related to his Hickman Catheter; however, they don't want to remove the Hickman just yet, because he's still a little guy. They are waiting a little longer while he's in the hospital to see if any of the bacteria grows again. If it does, then they will remove the Hickman without question, but if the strong intravenous antibiotics that he is receiving daily clear up the infection, they will leave the Hickman in for a few more months. She also said that when he was admitted, she wasn't sure what was going on in terms of infection because overall, he looked great, especially once the fever was gone; however, in retrospect, now that they know he had a staph infection in his blood, she said that there were small signs that he was headed towards septic shock: low blood pressure, lack of appetite, etc... We both agreed that we were glad that they decided to error on the side of caution and admit him for observation and antibiotics from the start.
She would like to have him stay the entire 10 days for i.v. antibiotics and observation, but his regular doctor told Jason earlier in the afternoon that Ryan might be able to go home in 7 days if they discharge him with an i.v. pack so that we could administer the antibiotics at home for the entire 10 days. We'll just have to be patient and wait to see what they decide. We're confident that they'll make a decision based on his best interest.
I want to add that Jason reported that Ryan was completely NUTS today. He described his behavior as "obscene" when I called to check on them earlier in the day. Apparently, Ryan was going stir crazy and pushing all of Jason's buttons. He behaved so poorly when his hospital tutor came by that they had to have her leave. He was going nuts, kicking and hitting Jason and screaming. He was really upset about being back at the hospital. They sent one of the peds neuropsychologists over to meet with them and to help calm Ryan down. ...By the time we got there in the afternoon (with dinner from Pepes), he was in much better spirits. Jason is at his wits end being confined with a maniac for three days in such a small room. The plan is for me to relieve him of his duties tomorrow. We will be crossing our fingers that the healing incision site on my leg will not greatly impact my ability to care for him for a few days.
I'll leave you with more pictures from today...
[Hamming it up, happy with his cheery balloons (Thank You, Topanga Family!! ♥) and a cookie from downstairs.]
[More ham & cheese: 1. Admiring his own reflection in the mylar balloon. 2. Giving the thumbs up to our Topanga Family.]
[With one of his best buds/doctors... Dr. Anderson stopped by for a visit. It was so nice to catch up with him. He was Ryan's primary doctor before transplant. He's an amazing/brilliant doc/person and a big kid at heart.]
[Someone was excited to receive his new netbook after accidentally sending his old one sailing out of his hands, across the air, and onto the floor where the screen crashed into many, many tiny pieces. Yes, that's Bruce 16, the shark with tubies, keeping him company.]
[He was so excited that he was hogging up both computers, something he tries to accuse me of doing, but the proof is in the pictures. ;) ]
[The ridiculously cute card from our Top Fam.]
[Capping off a fun night by watching Despicable Me.]
As always, thanks for stopping by...
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