Easter Sunday
Hi, folks! Well, we are on the road home from the hospital, if you can believe it. When I last blogged, I was looking forward to a week at the beach.
Little did I know...
...that I would get hit with an ear infection my first morning in Anna Maria Island.
I got some delicious amoxicillin at Urgent Care.
But I still spent most of the week being really sick.
Then I woke up on Friday and threw up twice. Mom and dad were worried, so they took me to the ER. After they saw me in triage, we got sent to a holding room. Dad looked at the holding room board, and he started to get really worried about me because I had the same priority number as an older man who walked in clutching his chest, and whose face had turned progressively grey in the waiting room.
The ER Doctor saw us right away in an open room in the back (we could hear the older gentleman taking about how his poop had turned black). She said we needed to stay overnight in a children's hospital. She also said she wanted to do a lumbar puncture. They took some blood samples and moved us to a private room to do the lumbar puncture. I didn't cry during any of this. Mom and dad thought I was especially brave, but they found out later that those are really bad signs. Our ER doc said my spinal fluid was clear during the lumbar puncture, and she said, "Well that's a relief, because if there were problems it would be cloudy."
Mom and dad felt good about that, so dad went to find some sandwiches for everyone, because we hadn't eaten in hours. While he was out, the ER doctor came back with the results. She said, "Bad news, it's bacterial meningitis." Mom said, "Oh, well that's good- it's not viral. Means there are antibiotics." The doc said, "No, this is the bad one." Mom asked, "Well what is the prognosis on this?" The ER Doctor looked very flustered, and she couldn't look mom in the eye. She said, "Ack," and left the room. Meanwhile, I was laying there in my skivvies because it was really hot.
Dad came back right after the Doctor left, and mom told him the results. He said, "Oh jeez." But they didn't want to scare me so they just held my hands. Someone came by and taped up a sign saying no contact, and everyone coming into the room started wearing masks and gowns.
A little while later a nice nurse named Tristan came in and was bumbling around trying to get an IV started for me. He eventually just sat down on my cot and hand pushed the IV antibiotics. He said, you need this now, you can't wait for me to figure out this new machine. He was wearing a "world's best dad" copper bracelet, and he had dark colored tattoos up both of his arms.
A random woman came in and said, "Mark is going to take a helicopter to the hospital." Mom just lost it then. But luckily, they were able to take me in a regular ambulance, and mom was able to go with me. Dad has a good pic, I'll post that next week.
Long story short, I woke up in the hospital in the worst pain of my life. Mom says she's never heard a scream like the ones I had. Luckily, they gave me a ton of morphine and antibiotics.
I stayed in the hospital for ten days. This is what my bed looked like on day two.
They took me off isolation on day three or four, and that made me so incredibly happy because it meant I could go to the playroom.
It also meant I got to tool around in a wagon. (Said my first sentence- "No more books").
I got to see grandma and grandpa (and great uncle Jim and great aunt Lucia)! And
I let the actors in A Dolphin's Tale do a photo op with me.
I created some art, and I'm not sure if you can see here, but I met two nice dogs in the hospital, Molly and Sarah.
I played on an outdoor boat playground.
Took some selfies with mom.
Spent some quality time with pops.
And took time to smell the flowers.
But ten days in the hospital is a long time. Here is me pondering life on the outside.
This is me during my last IV infusion.
We are en route home now! Yay! This is our celebration grilled cheese in Gainseville. I will be so happy to get to see Ender, finally.
Love you all! Thanks for your support through everything. I'm feeling much better, just need to get some practice in so I can be up and walking again.
Marky
