March 1, 2020
Hey Everyone,
Here is the update for today. Olly had probably the roughest night she has had in the hospital during this stay last night. She woke up around 3 am so we decided to do her breathing treatments. While doing the treatments the nurse also grabbed a set of vitals and checked Olly’s iv. Turns out Olly’s iv had infiltrated, basically the catheter either pulled back out of or pushed through the blood vessel. Something that is fairly common especially in kids and especially in ivs that have been in for longer periods of time.
This led to needing to get a new line run since all of her fluids and meds are going through the iv currently. Lucky for us Olly is of course a challenge and it took a while to first get the right person to the room (she was very busy last night) and secondly to get the new iv in. Again I should point out Olly likes to make sure everyone is on their toes around here. So after all of our fun it was 4:30 before we really got settled back in to sleep.
The morning got off to a roaring start with our first visit around 7:45 am and by 10:00 am we had seen two different sets of Drs, and gone downstairs for an Ultrasound. We also had our first seizure of the day and showed more signs of pain. This led to Olly getting a catheter to collect a urine sample to check for a UTI.
Good news is the urine test came back normal. The ultrasound also showed that the intussusception had again cleared. So now we search for answers on what is causing the pain. It seems like the belief is once again that it is neurological so we are adding them to the list of people that we will be talking to tomorrow. So that brings us to Pulmonology, GI, Surgery, Neurology, and Care Coordinator. We will also be working to get home healthcare nursing. Our Pulmonoligist is working hard to make this happen.
The highlight of the day however was that Lora, Nate and Mara got to escape the hospital together for a few hours and head to Mall of America for lunch and some shopping. Mara was the winner in the shopping trip getting not only a refill of her stick on earrings but two pairs of clip on earrings. After the mall we headed back to see Olly and enjoy dinner together as a family before Mom and Mara headed home and left Dad with bath duty.
Olly loved her bath and it was super relaxing for her. After her bath since she was already disconnected from everything we got to for another walk in the stroller. We stayed on her floor this time. Turns out she is a bit of a celebrity around here. It took us 45 minutes to make two laps. Based on watching the kids come around on trikes one lap should take no more than a couple minutes but it sure was nice to feel all of the love. Olly spent most of the time with a smile on her face and spent the rest of the time falling asleep or actually sleeping.
We are so thankful for all of the great staff here. Good or bad (and I think it is some of both) there is a reason why this place feels like a home away from home. No offense but one that I wish we visited a little less. It is amazing to have so many people that truly care about not only Olly but our entire family. It seems that each day we are here our family grows a little bit bigger.
We shared this at the benefit but it seems right to share it again now. “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
With the amazing team of family, friends, our church, doctors, nurses, medical professionals, teachers, co-workers, employers Mara’s teacher and school staff and random people we will have a difficult time ever being in trouble. You are all so amazing we are truly blessed to have you all in our lives. From the bottom of our hearts thank you.