The Puddles

During our first hospital stay, Ben had a view of the astrodome. Pretty cool. 

  
Now the second time, we had a different view. So tonight we were really wanting to see the fireworks at Herman park. There are a few really tall buildings next to us so we weren’t  sure if we would see them or not. 

 But we could see all of the high fireworks. Ben and I talked which ones we like the best. The nurse came in to give him more medicine and take more blood, then he saw our view and joined us in the running commentary of how awesome the fireworks were. He liked the same ones that Ben does, the multi-colored ones. 

Ben’s running commentary was in stark contrast to an hour earlier. He started running a fever again. This time he felt so badly (dizziness and pounding headache) that he asked that I get the nurse. That was a change.  His fever was 101.7. Before they would give him medicine, they took a lot of blood. Hopefully this fever heated blood will give them some answers. 

In the meantime, I know I will pray for answers. The iv medicine is burning his veins.  The VAT team was called again this afternoon to put a new iv in. He has blown so many IVs that he is running out of places (that is just my humble opinion. I am sure the VAT could find a new place). They use ultrasound to find a good vein and then to guide the needle. It is impressive and Ben doesn’t mind it at all. 

But we sure would like to know what is going on. So we lift up more prayers. 

Firework Update:

We were wrong about the fireworks. The first ones were cool, but then the real ones started. 

  
We could actually hear them and see them. They were so close and bright that the reflections off of the buildings made them even better.  Of course, Ben had fallen asleep, but I gently woke him up and we watched for about five minutes until he said thank you and fell asleep on my shoulder.  At least he went to sleep with a smile on his face. 

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Ben started running a fever in the emergency room while we were waiting for our room. So at least we had doctors who were able to witness the fever. Besides dizziness during the fever he has no other symptoms, and he says he feels fine (at least fine for a kid who is 10 days out from open heart surgery). 

So they are running tests. His surgeon even waited around yesterday evening to see the Echo and other test results. The only anomaly that has come up is that his inflammatory markers in his blood work has come up elevated.  One doctor said that this was an indication that something was going on, but the doctor this morning said that this was typical of someone who just had major surgery. So who knows. 

They have him on three iv antibiotics while they try to figure it out. If he runs a fever while on all of these drugs, then they know that they are dealing with something unusual (according to the morning doctor) . So hopefully he won’t run a fever. 

So all can do is wait. What does one do while they sit around and wait for test results during a holiday weekend? You watch tv channels that mom never lets you watch at home. You walk. You practice your breathing using your incentive spirometer. You pick out new movies to watch. You walk some more.  You color. You put a list together of stuff you want Dad to bring you. All before lunch. 

He is not happy about being here, but we are trying to make the best of it.   

The girls were stolen/kidnapped/ran away willingly with the Brown family. I wasn’t there, but I the scenario that I picture in my head goes like this . . . 

Mr. Brown enters the house and says to Dad, “Would you like —” And Ainsley who was upstairs in her room 50 feet away senses the presence of her second family and like the wind she runs past the two men while shouting, “YES” and goes to climb in his car before Mr. Brown has a chance to finish the sentence. 

I don’t know if it happened that way or not, but it certainly sounds like Ainsley.  In the meantime, we don’t know what is going to happen except we are here for 48 hours. Hopefully we will know more this evening during those rounds and we pray for no more fever. 

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We are currently sitting in a room in the Emergency Center at Texas Children’s Hospital waiting for the doctors to admit Ben to a regular room for 48 hours of observation while they try to figure out where this fever is coming from. 

For the last two nights Ben has run a fever. Only in the evening around the time to give him his medicine at 9pm. Then we would spend the next hour taking his temperature, retaking his temperature, changing thermometers, taking it both auxiliary and orally, trying to cool him off to see if he was just overheated, praying that this was a fluke, and then finally resolving to ourselves that the fever was real.  Then we would give him some Tylenol to fight the fever and by morning the fever was gone. We called the cardiology on call doctor both times, but it was our pediatrician that really helped. She called TCH and spoke to the attending cardiology doctor in which both doctors agreed that this was not normal. So they sent us downtown to get checked out. 

So far all of the tests have come back as ok (no changes on the echo, EKG, urine, etc since we left the hospital two days ago).  The doctors have no idea why he is running a fever. He did run a fever in the ICU several days after surgery, but all of the tests from that period came back normal and they stopped the antibiotics. He didn’t run another fever again in the hospital. So hopefully we will get some answers.

Ben is mad that he is back at the hospital. He doesn’t want to be here at all. I can’t say I blame him. Chris is at home washing clothes and repacking bags, so Ben has clean clothes to wear at the hospital again. He will join us tomorrow at the hospital. We pray for a quick resolution to this problem, so we can finish this recovery at home. 

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Home. The Lake family home located in Conroe, Texas. Population 9 (2 Lakes, 3 Puddles, 2 guard dogs, and 2 minions of Satan (the cats))

It has been so wonderful just being home. Don’t look behind the couch where all of the suitcases and duffle bags are hidden at the moment. We will unpack those tomorrow. Today is a day of rest and reconnecting with each other. Chris said we were starting to be like the Waltons because we had shared so many meals around the kitchen table in the last day. More than we had in a long time.

It has been peaceful. A little TV. Some napping on couches. No sibling warfare. Eating the fine food brought over by our church family. Laughing. And most importantly rejoicing.

Ben heard his new heartbeat for the first time today. I don’t know why I had never thought of letting him hear it before today. There is no more “swish swish” sound, only “thump thump.” His heart has sounded like a washing machine for so long. It is truly like icing on the cake to hear his new heartbeat. He even called his sisters over to listen (something that is highly unusual for him). We all celebrated his new heartbeat. I have never seen Ben smile so big. That smile was all the reward I needed after the last week.

We still have a few hurdles to jump. On his first night home, he started running a fever of 101.7. We called the hospital (as instructed). The cardiologist on call told us to give him medicine and then call back in the morning if the fever was still there. Ben wasn’t having any symptoms besides a fever. So these instructions sounded reasonable. He woke up with no fever and continued to be fine throughout the day. Until tonight, when his temperature went to 102.2. He doesn’t have any other symptoms so we gave him Tylenol and are checking his temp throughout the night. But we are calling his cardiologist in the morning and we already have a scheduled follow up appointment with his pediatrician tomorrow. So hopefully we can get to the bottom of these weird evening temperature spikes. And we pray it is nothing serious or something that will send Ben back to the hospital. We really are tired of the place. We don’t mind letting someone else use our room for the next ten years.

Even with all of the issues, we are still grateful and enjoying our time as a family. As mom, I will enjoy the peace while I can. Because I know that the first sibling fight is coming and then I will know that we have returned to normal again.

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