Day 221: Hotel California

For those old enough to get the reference in the title, you already know what this post will be about. For the rest, we are back at the hospital.

While Sunday was a pretty good day for Cristian, Monday was a bit of a bumpy ride. He spent most of the day with very low energy and not eating or drinking throughout the day. As the evening approached we worked to try and get something in his stomach, strawberry lemonade which he usually enjoys. Good news is he did take a few drinks and seemed to enjoy it.

Bad news is he threw it up about 30 minutes later. This was his first time vomiting of the day and not what you want to see when someone isn’t eating or drinking for fear of dehydration. After we got him all cleaned up and comfortable watching TV, his energy seemed much better than before but he obviously wasn’t feeling well. To offset the fluid he lost we worked to have him drink some more water. That didn’t stay down and we were now headed down the dehydration path. His eyes were starting to develop dark circles, skin color was fading, energy was low.

After the third throw up we made the decision that it was time to head into the ER. His circles around his eyes were worsening and things were headed in the wrong direction. So 10:30pm we got in the car and headed back to the hospital.

The ER waiting room was empty which meant no wait for us, thankfully. While the waiting room was empty, almost all of the ER rooms were taken. We got their last room which was normally reserved for patients with psychiatric issues. But nonetheless it got the job done and the nurses got to work. Upside of it being so late is that Cristian slept through almost the entire ordeal of accessing his port.

Now that he was hooked up they drew blood to determine the source of his issues. We discover that his glucose is very low, 47, which presented some concern on top of the dehydration. They started fluids and glucose to begin correcting the situation while determining next steps. Just like the ER being full, the normal hospital beds were all occupied as well. Knowing that this situation warranted admission and monitoring, the Dr looked for space to get us in without having to transport us to another facility.

So at 2am off to the ICU we went, for two main reasons. First we needed a room and the ICU had space. Second the very low glucose levels presented a risk and needed close monitoring to make sure his body was improving with what they were giving him. Upon arrival we were met by a team of folks to get us settled and asses the situation. As this was our first trip to the ICU it was interesting to see the difference compared to the “normal” hospital admission. More people, more support, what felt like more structure. All good to see given Cristian’s current situation.

Finally at about 3am things settled down for the night. Cristian had been in and out of sleep from all the interruptions since we arrived almost 4 hours earlier. We were both able to sleep, even with nurses coming in frequently to check his status.

As we got to daylight hours Cristian’s vitals are looking better. His glucose is back in normal range and seems stable. This is one thing checked off the list. His body is still dehydrated and his blood is a little acidotic. Since he is responding well to these treatments we will continue down this path until it is safe to go home, possibly tomorrow. Cristian has had some water this morning and been able to keep it down which is awesome. Not quite ready for food but we will get there.

We are praying that God watches over Cristian and heals his body so we can go home. We spend too much time here lately and just want Cristian to be healthy, happy, and at home playing.