Purple Cast

Waiting to go home.

On Friday morning Ava's Hemoglobin was retested to determine if she would need the blood transfusion or not. In the mean time her catheter was removed and her IV was disconnected. I was finally able to get her out of bed. Up to this point Ava had spent most of the morning crying and saying "I want to go home." "I miss my bed" (Which I found hysterical since she never sleeps in her bed.) "I miss my Daddy." "I miss Jack." I was able to put Ava in her stroller, thankfully she still fit! Ava's cast this time is very different. Her position is not as seated as it was, her upper thigh area is closer together and the bottom of her legs are about five inches farther apart. This is definitely going to be a problem! (She no longer fit's in her Spica chair.) After being in the stroller Ava refused to get out. She was drinking a little more and snacking here and there. She even napped in it because she refused to get back in the bed. She was now on regular Tylenol for pain and even went to the bathroom on the toilet which is quite a feat I must say! We were spoiled the last five weeks!! Ava was able to sit on the toilet with us slightly holding her, now I have to completely hold her and she's about 4 inches from the toilet. It's going to be a long four weeks!! Bottom line was Ava was set on leaving the hospital and she was going to cry and complain until they complied.

Around lunchtime her blood test results came back...her Hemoglobin dropped from 8.3 to 7.8 not unusual with having so much fluid through the IV and her potassium was low as well. (Also common with so much blood loss.) The Pediatric Resident prescribed a potassium supplement  to put in her drink. (Good Luck getting her to drink that!) After talking with her nurse we decided I would get her to eat as much of a banana as I could witch has the same amount of potassium. I got her to eat a little more then half, we were good to go. Now the Pediatric Residents had to confer with the Orthopedic Residents to determine if she could be released or not. Well talk already! We're ready to go! We spent most of the afternoon walking around our floor and around 3:30 we ran into the surgeon that assisted Dr. A, Dr.M. He asked Ava how she was doing. Her response "I want to go home." So I decided to plead her case...Dr. M asked all the usual questions "Is she eating and drinking?" "Some but won't eat normal until we get home." "Pain medication?" "Regular Tylenol." "Fever ?" "Finally back to normal." "Bathroom?" "Yep went on the toilet." "We're still concerned with the hemoglobin, I need to talk to her nurse." Of course I had to add my two sense...although she is slightly pale , she is not deathly grey pale like last time. She's coming around and acting like herself. Dr. M talked to Ava's nurse then called Dr. A. They all decided since we had been through this surgery before and I knew my daughter best Ava was ready to go home. Yeah!!! We were all elated! Our next challenge...will she still fit in her car seat????

Happy to be home!

After signing the necessary paper work I happily strolled Ava out of the hospital. (I just have to add our last stay in the hospital was not all that pleasant, this time was completely different. Our nurses were fantastic!!) With the help off an extra pillow Ava fit perfectly in her car seat (yahoo!), although there was less then an inch to spare between her foot and the door but thankfully she fit! We're on our way. Once we were home Ava was more like herself. She's back to being propped up on the couch and it's a whole new learning curve dealing with her purple cast. She is in more pain this time since the muscles in the left hip were manipulated as well. We have to hold her facing the back of the toilet for her to go to the bathroom...hopefully neither David or I will hurt our back doing this. Her groin area is still very swollen causing her to pee sideways on her cast and on us sometimes. EWE !! The bathroom is going to be a challenge! When can we get this cast off ???? Ava had a hard time going to sleep last night. She ended up sleeping in bed with me (so much for missing her bed) and only waking up once. She even slept til 6:30am, a luxury now! (I never thought I'd hear those words coming out of my mouth.)

Today Ava ate and drank better but was cranky, whiny and back to being very demanding.. She couldn't decide what she wanted to do or where she wanted to lay. It was like day one all over again! Just like before, we figured it out and she was able to do some of her favorite activities. I had moments today where I thought there is no way I am going to survive these next weeks to come then I hear Ava call me "Mama" (the name she reverted to since the last surgery) and say "I love you!" and I know we'll be okay. At the end of the week we go for a post op x ray to make sure she is healing properly. Even though I do not look forward to another cast I will be happy to get this one off. Being casted less seated is going to be a challenge. My hope is Ava's pain subsides quickly and the next four weeks fly by. I look forward to my tiny dancer fluttering around the house and regaining her independence. For now I'll push through the exhaustion and do what I can to keep Ava happy. As always, one day at a time. . . One day at a time.

My little Picasso!