Good As New, Almost

Isn't. She. Cute? Saturday is the day. Really, this time. The NG tube is the only cord left and she didn't even use it today. We're just waiting. They taper her meds down a little every day and Saturday it will be 0. She is tolerating the withdrawal really well now. She doesn't do the grunting/back- arching/flushed/irritated-smile thing anymore. In fact, she is just sweet and happy. She seems to have come through all of this craziness better than I. She not only has maintained all of her skills (I expected a setback similar to or worse than Christmastime), she is already moving ahead. Mom says that Keira loves her PT. She smiles and looks at her. When the PT moves her around, it's like K is thinking, "Oh, thank you! I've been trying to figure out how to do that!" She seems to be so determined. She'll spend 40 minutes playing under her mobile, trying to figure out how to be more proficient in the use of her arms.

I've been on the proverbial roller coaster. I feel disoriented and uncentered. I feel like I haven't been anywhere over the past few days. I haven't really been at home or at work or at the hospital or with the boys or sleeping. I've started an unhealthy Bejeweled habit. However, I am getting by and our friends and family are definitely picking up the slack.

The boys like the hospital. The last few evenings I've been alternating taking Ronin and Liam to see Keira, watch Scooby Doo in her room, collude with my Bejeweled addiction, and eat dinner with me in the cafeteria (Ronin likes anything that comes with a bag of chips. Liam opts for sushi.). When I bring them one at a time they don't argue about who gets to push the elevator buttons.

Funny story: Yesterday, Ronin got stuck in the revolving door. He wanted me to wait while he went around "just one more time." So, I did, but apparently he isn't tall enough to trigger the automatic turnaround, because the door stopped when he was half-way through and he was trapped like a caged animal. I thought it was pretty hilarious. He wasn't sure why I was laughing.

My day made a sharp turn for the better today when Jeff offered to stay another night at the hospital. Then I did some retail therapy (Keira must need the cutest new clothes to make up for 2 whole weeks of nudity, right?) and got a cup of coffee. Visited Keira who is Just. A. Doll. Liam and I are are the only ones home tonight. We read Summer of the Monkeys. I let him sleep in my bed. It felt like a slumber party. But then I couldn't sleep. So here I am.

I can't wait to have all my birds in the nest again.

P.S. The quilt in the background of the picture is courtesy of Project Linus. http://www.linusidaho.org
Such a cool charity. Because of them, Keira has had a pretty quilt on her bed in her otherwise sterile-looking room every day since she's been at St. Luke's.

Along those lines, Keira also received a "Joy Jar" while in the PICU from this charity: http://joyjars.negu.org

I decided today that if I ever am a politician (which I won't be) or start a charity of my own (which I don't plan to), I'm going to target hospital waste. It is UNBELIEVABLE what is deemed "disposable" and thrown away in the hospital after a single use. Or no uses, as the case may be, if your glove or mask or instrument of any kind gets dropped on the floor by accident.