So to say that I am tired is a complete understatement. I am exhausted, and sadly, I look exhausted. I had a little bit of a crying session last night on the phone with David, who as always was completely reasonable and understanding. He is a rock.
Yesterday afternoon and evening were trying to say the least. Rhian was incredibly cranky, completely unreasonable when it came to meds, and belligerent to me and the nurses. Very unlike her, but between being in bed for several days, and the steroids, which are known to make people cranky, she was unbearable.
Her mood may also have been a side effect of her biological mother, Carmen, coming to see her. While she was excited at the thought of her visiting, she was less than thrilled to see her, and became increasingly cranky. She seems to have that effect upon Rhian--I'm not sure why...And of course, it was stressful for me--it stresses me to have her around to to be forced to be nice to her. I know, that sounds terrible, but it takes every thing in me, and LOTS of prayer to be nice and pleasant to that woman.
They let Rhian start sitting up yesterday, about one hour with each meal, and they took her catheter out. So yesterday evening, we used a bedpan to let her use the restroom, and the nurse was supposed to measure what was left in her bladder by putting another tube "up there." Due to Rhian's hysterical screaming (even though no one had actually touched her yet), and her kicking and tensing her legs, the two of us could NOT get it done. (If we were at home, and she didn't have a three inch incision in her back and spinal cord, I would have spanked her hiney for such behavior!!!) So, the nurse called the doctor, and he said she could do a bladder scan instead. Its some kind of sonogram machine that tells the amount of urine in the bladder.
So, of course, by this point it was shift change for the nurses, so the first nurse didn't get it done, and the second nurse didn't really realize it had to be done immediately afterwards...So, when the doctor came in to talk to me at 11:00pm, he was NOT happy that the nurses wasted a "void," and that we didn't have a bladder scan yet. He fussed at the nurses, and said it must be something in the air with the nurses, he had trouble all day. Rhian's evening dose of Motrin--the only pain killer she is on right now--was also two and a half hours late.
Rhian went to sleep early, and I calmed down, and the night went much better. David has called me about four times...I think I kind of freaked him out. He worries about me--and that makes me feel good. He has promised to come down today, and he is going to stay with Rhian tonight so I can go to a friend's house to get some sleep.
I called and talked to the little girls last night, who are at our friend Amy's house. Apparently, earlier in the day, they had found a dead rat in the barn and brought it into the house to tease Amy with...and so, just before I called they had gone into Carlee's closet to get their pajamas, when--A brown ribbon with a ball of hair attached to it got stuck to Elizabeth's clothing. Carlee yelled "Mouse!!!" sending all three girls and Colton into a tizzy. Amy was still laughing when I answered the phone, and she said Chris was laughing so hard he was crying! While I was on the phone, Amy had to reassure Jacklyn about six times that there were no mice in her house, and that it was safe to go back in Carlee's room, and that it was only a ribbon! Once again, those girls are having such a great time, I am sure they will never want to go home. But, then, it is Christmas, and I can probably bribe them with gifts...
So, about midnight and 6am, Rhian had to go to the restroom, so we finally got her urine measured (yuck--this is exactly why I did not become a nurse!) and two bladder scans done. But she is holding too much urine in her bladder, and so...we may have to do another catheter. She still has one bladder scan to go, and hopefully she can get up to the toilet to do it, so maybe her bladder will empty more fully. This is the one thing that is keeping her from going home. So, we will probably go home tomorrow rather than today.
SO!!! All that said, Rhian is in much better spirits this morning, is sitting all the way up, and wants to go to the playroom today. I left the room to get breakfast without her falling apart, and I am looking forward to getting her up and out of bed. She is doing well, all in all, as long as I can keep her spirits up--but her moods seem to be as changeable as Oklahoma weather--So, keeping with my space adventure theme--we are most definitely ready to launch, but weather is keeping us grounded...
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