Making Good Progress

Tyson is making good progress in the hospital.  He has been off oxygen since Saturday morning and only needs his sats monitor hooked up overnight in case his oxygen level drops and he needs oxygen.  He didn't need O2 at all last night!  His sats are looking great at 88-92 (where they are when he's good and healthy) but the air entry into his left lung still isn't good enough to go home quite yet.  The IV meds need to continue for a while to clear out the infection. 

Thank-you to everyone who donated to the Superheroes Bowl for Cardiac Kids May 31, 2014.  My Mom came to the hospital Saturday afternoon to stay with Tyson so that the rest of our family could participate in the bowl-a-thon in Woodbridge. It definitely wasn't the same without Ty.  Boooo :( :( :(  But we did enjoy ourselves and raised $850 for Cardiac Kids. We also won the "Team Spirit Award" for best costumes!!! (The hard work paid off!!)  As a prize we won six tickets to Canada's Wonderland! Woot woot! The kids are so excited!! 


Although I didn't tell Tyson where I was going when I left the hospital yesterday, we did tell him we went to the Superheroes Bowl.  He looked a little sad but we promised him we'd go bowling again soon.  In our basket of goodies from Cardiac Kids, we received coupons for free bowling.  So we promised Tyson that we'd all go bowling in our ninja turtle costumes again just for him, once he's feeling better.   He was fine with the fact that we did the bowling without him, but when I showed him this picture today, he almost cried.  He realizes that he's missed out on that fun so I better not rub it in. 
 

So fun, but our family is definitely not complete without Tyson :(   

Team Super Why

After the bowl-a-thon, the whole family came back to the hospital for a quick visit with Tyson.  They all miss him so much and he misses them too.  Even though we're not that far away geographically (compared to Sick Kids,) we all shed a few tears when we had to part ways again.  If you think this gets easier, it doesn't.  It becomes more familiar but it does NOT get easier.  I have tears as I'm writing this, remembering Kenya's crocodile tears in the hospital lobby as she hugged her brother good-bye.  Braden and Merrick did a pretty good job trying to hide their tears, but they can't fool me.  Brian and I both reminded them that we're not that far away, and if Tyson was at Sick Kids instead of Headwaters, it would mean he's much sicker than what he is now and it would be a whole lot harder to say good-bye.   

Tyson is in very good spirits in the hospital which is so helpful when looking after him.  Most hospital stays are quite exhausting when he's grumpy and uncooperative.  He's having a good time playing on Braden's iPod, watching tv, playing with his new toys from Grandma & Grandpa Spanninga, and reading Superhero stories.  This morning we were even allowed to leave the room and go for a walk.  He didn't mind having to wear a mask if it meant he could get out for a while!

Since he's not hooked up to anything, we were even allowed to get some fresh outside air!

We had to say hello to Bruce McMoose, the blue moose that lives just outside Tyson's bedroom window.

Hidden in the garden outside Ty's room is a gardener made of flowerpots.

Tyson's IV only needs to be hooked up when it's time for his next med dose.  Because he's still eating and drinking well enough, his IV meds are not given by continuous drip but just a bolus every eight hours.  This means we don't have to worry too much about retaining fluids like we would if he was on a continuous drip, and so we also don't have to measure his 'ins and outs' as strictly as we usually do.  No measuring every thing that goes into his mouth, and no measuring his pee.  (Hey, I appreciate the little things in life, ok?)

No IV drip, no oxygen, and no sats monitor means: his hands are free!  Being off oxygen is such a big help too,  no oxygen tank to lug around if we want to get out of the room.  And he can actually walk to the bathroom by himself rather than having to manouever around tubes and wires.

A huge advantage in his recovery this time around is not needing the oxygen for too long.  Most times he needs 5 days of IV meds and then it still usually takes an additional two days to wean him from the oxygen before going home.  But this time he only needed to oxygen for the first night and if he continues on this route, we should be home in no time.

The kids are going to stay at home with Brian for the rest of the weekend, then I believe the plan is for my Mom to stay with Tyson tonight while I go home to be with Brian and the other kids.   We'll get the kids on the bus in the morning, Addi away to a babysitter and then I'll be back with Tyson for the day while Brian goes to work.  It's a little easier when the oldest is old enough to babysit so the three oldest can be on their own for an hour after school before Brian comes home from work.  I like that we don't have to juggle the kids around as much as we used to.  What a blessing that Brian can continue on with a regular work schedule because the kids are old enough to be on their own for a bit.  It's just Miss Addi who needs someone to help look after her. 

Here's hoping the next update is from home?!?