Hospital Life...Day 18

Today is Day 18.  If you missed the Day 17 update, you can catch up HERE.

Today was, again, another quiet day.  The past two days have been "decent" days, all things considered.  I would say that today wasn't quite as good as those two days, but it was still "ok".  Peyton just seemed a little less willing to give up any smiles for people today - not even when Dr. K tried to get her to smile.  To me she looked a little more purple around they eyes than she has looked lately.  I'm not sure I can put my finger on exactly what the difference is with her, but she wasn't the same today.

I was surprised to see the Ortho resident this afternoon.  He came in with a box which I recognized as one containing a new splint.  He found one that was shorter than that blue one he'd put on her and rigged to fit her previously.  The splint itself looks different but seems to be a good fit for her.  The actual back of the splint is flat as opposed to being bent at the knee to position her leg.  Instead, there is a long foam triangle-shaped wedge that sits inside the splint with the "point" of the triangle being behind her knee.  Her leg is in a good position.  With this splint, everyone can very easily see how her leg looks.  You couldn't at all with the first one.  With the blue one, her leg was covered, but you could open the splint up to look at her leg.  This is great, in my opinion.

You can see for yourselves now just how swollen her leg is, particularly from thigh down through her knee.  Her lower leg is a little swollen, but nothing compared to the top.  Her foot is also a bit puffy.  Some of that puffiness could be related to the overall edema she's been having.  A lot, I'm sure, is fracture-related.  It's a little hard to tell in the picture below, but her thigh is still swollen and red.  In fact, it looks a little more so tonight than it did earlier today or yesterday.

This is Peyton's knee.  It {among other things} makes me so sad.  Her poor leg just looks so sore.  I cannot even imagine.  I've never broken a bone so have no idea how she must feel.

Considering we are likely to be sticking around a while longer, Ortho is going to have more x-rays done on the 15th.  The 16th actually will mark 3 weeks since we took Peyton to the ER with the fracture.  This is about when we would have followed up in the Ortho clinic as an out-patient after the ER visit and one night stay for pain management {HA!!}.  I don't see Peyton being out of this splint for a while.  

In other areas, some of her lab values are looking a bit improved, so that is good.  Hopefully the TPN is helping.  There's still a little ways to go before we decide that, yes, it is {or no, it's not} working.  They have to get everything to a stable level so they know what her TPN formulation should be.  We are back to the yellow TPN tonight.  Apparently it's yellow because of the addition of multi-vitamins.

There are some new residents on the team now.  One came in today and discussed with me some of our wishes for Peyton in the event of a crisis situation.  This has been an on-going topic of discussion for quite some time.  It was actually first brought up with Dr. T a couple of years ago during one of Peyton's many respiratory illnesses.  This has been on our minds for a long time, but we're just trying to make sure now that we are acting in her best interests considering all we are dealing with.  Since there are new residents, they want to make sure they fully understand everything.  They also want to be able to pass the appropriate information on to the residents or other team members who would be caring for Peyton at night or on weekends.

A lot of people are asking how I am doing and are expressing their concern for me.  Please know that I am doing alright.  I won't say "great" because I'm not.  It is not an easy situation to be in day in and day out.  I am tired but I am fine.  I am getting sleep.  I am actually getting more {and better} sleep than I was getting at home.  The couch I sleep on here isn't perfect, but it's fine.  My back is holding up fine.  I am eating.  I do from time to time step outside this room.  Not often, but it has happened!  I know people here are concerned for me too and I appreciate it.  I really am doing as ok as one can be right now.

Thank you to my next door neighbor...who is currently my down the hall neighbor {her baby is in another unit on the same floor right now}...for bringing lunch to me today.  It was so good and I was so hungry I didn't even get to snap a pic before eating it up!  And to one of the nurses who brought me a little Friday afternoon pick-me-up...thank you!!  You know me well!