Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Kayson Strong as an Eagle ~ surgery day 5 ~ sibling visit!

Friday 6-8-18
Marmie said Kayson had a rough night.  :( But we were looking forward to Papaw bringing all the siblings to visit.  We were so excited to see them!  Glenn had to go down and get Papaw and baby girl though bc the front desk said she couldn't come up.  The hospital is redoing their ICU and moved it down to the floor we were on so Glenn just had to let them know we weren't in ICU and she could visit.  Today was going to be a big day too bc they wanted Kayson up and that meant wearing his collar again and childlike came by too to take us to the playroom.  They brought in two new sets of pads for his collar so they would be clean for his incision and we had only had one before so they weren't getting totally cleaned properly, just wiped off bc he had to wear the collar 24-7!  I was so glad to be able to get rid of that first set of pads and have two brand new sets so now we can change them out and clean them properly, that had really been bothering me.  So we got his collar on, all his IVs out and got him dressed and off to the playroom!  Chris and Papaw played pool, I played Chris once too.  The other boys played the Xbox, they have multiple screens for their Xboxes!  Kayson also played with legos.  Kalani ran all over the place and played kitchen and riding toys and little people farm and climbed in the soft play area and played basketball and watched the bubbles in the middle display.  lol.  Kayson was walking around and playing and not complaining of pain and just looking so much better, he just needed his siblings!  Then the playroom was closing for lunch so we went down to the hospital studio where they were playing bingo.  We got to go in to play and meet Boots the dog.  All the boys won a prize.  While we were doing that, Glenn ordered pizza and it was delivered to the hospital and we took it back up to Kayson's room for lunch.  After Kayson had his meds and more X-rays.  Then the boys worked some on his new after surgery lego set, Kayson also blew bubbles for Kalani.  I was getting so tired and had a slight headache, I felt guilty bc having all the kids there was so great but also so tiring, I was almost ready for them to head home.  #horriblemothermoment!  Then Glenn and daddy took them all to the playroom on our floor, its smaller than the big one but still cool.  Kalani got fussy so Kirsten brought her back to the room and put her to sleep.  While we were sitting in the room, his neuro surgery doc came in and explained that she wanted us to stay in town till monday bc he had an angiogram scheduled but since all his meds were by mouth now and he was doing so good, she felt he could be discharged to RMH!  We could leave the hospital!  and his siblings could be here to see it and timing was just so cool and amazing!  So we packed up the room, signed all the papers and we were off!  Glenn and Papaw went to get the vehicles and met us at the front door, Kayson was wheeled out, the red wagon was unloaded into Star (the Jeep), everyone said goodbyes and loaded up in the vehicle they were leaving in, Kayson got to keep the hospital pillow and she even gave him the sheet, lol, he was so excited.  Papaw and the siblings headed home and we headed to RMH.  After we got to RMH and was resting before dinner, we got called that Papaw and the kids had been involved in a hit and run!  Thankfully everyone was fine, they barely felt it bc it was a small car and there was minimal damage to Silver, PTL!  Then it was dinner time, got a text that they made it home safe, rested some, took a walk to get a snack, tried to go back through the courtyard and discovered they had locked the doors to get back in, so we could get out but none of the doors would let us in, Kayson got really worried, that made me so sad, I assured him we would be fine, we had our phones, we weren't stuck.  I saw a cleaning lady and knocked on the door and she let us in, no worries but I don't understand why they lock the courtyard doors at all, theres no outside way into the courtyard and if you're going to lock it so people can't come in, shouldn't you lock it so they can't get out?  or at least put signs on the courtyard doors stating they lock from inside at such and such time so people don't get stuck outside???  Then to the room for night and SLEEP!!!

Monday, June 25, 2018

Kayson Strong as an Eagle ~ surgery day 4 ~ recovery

Thursday 6-7-18
Baby boy did finally quit throwing up and ate some breakfast, yay!  However, he is still in pain and his neck is hurting him, I think some of it is he is nervous bc his brace is still off.  I was asking his nurse about his deep cough and how long to expect it to continue and she was saying it should clear once he's up and moving and breathing deeper but she could get him some bubbles to help with it also.  He loves bubbles and was so excited to blow them.  I didn't realize just how deep one had to breath to blow bubbles!  Such a neat idea!  After a few different times of blowing, his cough was already clearing and you could tell it tired him out which was a good thing too bc he needed to rest.  By lunch he was looking better, he had worked on legos a little bit, ate some nachos and sucked a tootsie pop to sleep, lol!  Then the afternoon was quiet, naps were taken, nurses were talked to, after dinner was ate we left Marmie with Kayson for the night and went to get some rest at RMH.

Friday, June 22, 2018

Kayson strong as an Eagle ~ surgery day 3 ~ It's time!

Wednesday 6-6-18
We had to get up so early, get Kayson special soaped again before heading to the hospital.  None of us ate breakfast bc Kayson couldn't so we decided to wait till after he was taken to surgery to eat too. They took us back to the prep area pretty quickly, they are so efficient there, Kayson got into his hospital gown, a chaplain came by and prayed with us, Child Life came by and brought him a Star wars lego set, docs came in, consents were signed, silly juice was given, after which the boy was trying so hard to stay awake and finish his lego set but he was falling asleep sitting up!  lol jjokki;8 (ummmm, beware the baby and computer when you go to get your dinner!  lol, Kalani apparently wanted to add her two cents!)  Then they took him back and Squirt (his rescued stuffed turtle) even got to stay with him.  Then the wait for us began.  We went down and got some breakfast.  Our children's pastor came and sat with us for while.  We got checkup calls about every hour or so saying Kayson was doing good and everything was going well.  Mom and I took a walk to the gift shop and outside to the waterfall.  So pretty.  Then lunch.  I was thinking about before they took him to surgery and they were asking him if he knew what was going to happen and he said very matter of factly, "they are going to fix my neck!"  He was kinda excited it seemed to get his neck fixed.  When people ask him what happened to his neck he tells them, "I had a stroke."  You should see their looks and then then they look at me like really?!?  I say yes and usually explain a bit more if they are interested.  About 3p, we met with the doc, Kayson was out of surgery and doing so well no ICU was needed!  The surgery went well.  The doc looked sooooo tired!  There was also a high school girl in scrubs following them around for the day, I think she even got to watch the surgery!  That's so cool for her!  It wasn't long before we were called back to recovery to see Kayson.  Usually only two get to go back but they let Marmie come back with us too.  That was neat.  The recovery nurse said Kayson woke up and asked her, "Where's my voice?" While we were in there he says, "something's squeezing me!" lol, it was the blood pressure cuff on his leg.  He also wasn't wearing his collar, they said he didn't need to for the night.  It was kinda strange to see him without it.  I felt like I hadn't seen his neck in months!  He also mentioned his big lego set he got to pick at Legoland before we left recovery.  He was telling everyone about it!  Then on to his room on the neuro surg floor.  He already tried to sit up, his nurse said he met his first goal within 5 min of being on the floor!  :)  He slept some more and then he said he felt weird, then his stomach started bothering him.  :(  He wanted to watch TV he said but you could just tell he was still not fully awake and not feeling the best and he had trouble focusing on the TV and his stomach was still upset.  Then he started throwing up so they had to give him nausea meds and keep his IV fluids going.  He wanted to play legos but when we got them out, he really was just too tired and not feeling well.  He would try to sleep some between throwing up.  He had a special visitor come and bring him a blue dragon, he really liked that.  At one point he said, "Mama, the effect on my voice is gone!" lol.  His daddy stayed the night with him while Marmie and I went back to RMH.  It was a rough night his daddy said.  :(

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Kayson Strong as an Eagle ~ Surgery Day 2 ~ Pre-op

Up early, hotel breakfast, Kayson wanted two pancakes, he said, but I was trying to talk him into one bc I knew he wouldn't eat two but the lady heard and gave him two anyways, lol.  Pre-op went well, they took labs, he sat in my lap and didn't even cry!  Then we took the shuttle over to the hosp for his CT scan.  The CT had Mario stickers, so cool and Kayson liked that they gave me a batman cover to wear.  While he was finishing in CT, my phone rang, it was RMH saying we got a room.  PTL!  So we checked out of our hotel but couldn't check into RMH till two so we headed to Grapevine Mills.  Kayson wanted go to Legoland as his before surgery fun activity.  We had lunch at the food court, everyone ate something different, lol.  Then a carousel ride.  After, onto Legoland, except when we bought our tickets they told us that they stagger the entry times now and we couldn't get in till 2:45, it was only like 1:30, what do we do now?  So we went over to the Sealife Aquarium first.  It was neat, they had an area where you could "rescue" a plastic sea turtle, treat its boo boos, feed it and return it to the ocean.  Kayson was so excited about that but got sad when he realized he couldn't keep his turtle that he had named squirt.  When we got to the gift shop Glenn found a stuffed turtle that looked like Squirt and Kayson was so excited to get to take him home!  :)  Then onto Legoland.  Kayson loved all the legos and driving a police car around the track and watching a 4D movie (these seats stay still, so he could enjoy this one) and the gift shop where he got to pick out a lego set to build after his surgery.  Then Marmie (Hollie's mom) met us at RMH to check in and get our room.  Marmie took us to eat at Olive Garden.  Mmmm......so good!  When we arrived back at RMH, therapy dogs were visiting.  We enjoyed seeing them.  It was almost bedtime and Kayson needed a bath before surgery with special soap.  Then everyone got in bed, tomorrow was going too be an early early day!

Thursday, June 7, 2018

Kayson Strong as an Eagle ~ surgery day 1 ~ into Dallas

Monday 6-4-18

Since we didn't have to be in Dallas by a specific time, we decided to leave sometime after lunch so Kayson was able to attend a local VBS for one day.  He really loves VBS!  It was super hard to drop him off though!  I know people there and I knew he would do great, he's been to this one the last 2 years or so but still it was hard.  He had a great time!  :)  Kirsten rode in with me to take the boys and Chris was weeding at Meme's when we left and Glenn was running get ready for Dallas errands so we had Kalani too.  So I decided to take my girls to IHOP for breakfast.  Yum!  :)  When we got home, Chris was home from his weeding and we had just enough time to watch one Criminal Minds before heading in for the younger boys.  Then Chris decided to ride in with us and Glenn was still in town so we picked them up and met him for lunch at Five Guys, we all love that place!  I took the younger four home after that and Glenn ran to walmart with the teens to get them some last minute necessities for their summer youth trip.  We decided we better pack now and get headed to our hotel in Dallas, RMH was full.  We left about 4.  RAIN????  Where did that come from?  A Buccees stop, of course!  lol  Then a stop at Best Buy bc baby boy needed new headphones.  He accidentally pulled the ear part off his others and was using Keegan's but the ear pads had come off of those and I didn't really like just plastic covering his ears.  His daddy ran in and found him some Incredibles 2 ones and he was so excited to get them!  We made it to the hotel, ordered pizza, watched Kubo, well they did, I took a bath, lol.  BEDTIME!  Early pre op appts in the am!  :-o