Sorry mommy and daddy didn't write you a note last night but we were kind of busy watching the parade run by. I know you don't know about Thanksgiving yet but you will learn because it is one of your family's favorite holidays. And one of the great traditions on Thanksgiving is the big parade. It starts early in the morning and runs all day long, or at least it seems like it does because it generally interferes with daddy watching football. But the parade that mommy and watched was last night, on Thanksgiving Eve (as mommy calls it) and it wasn't so much to do with Thanksgiving after all.
But lets start with something else. Yesterday morning you and daddy spent some time together again, playing and listening to music like we used to. Now you weren't quite as happy about it this time as you have been in the past but we have had worse times too. And quite frankly I enjoyed it because you were making your faces again and without that yucky tube I was able to see them even more. Then once you quieted down some I did some boring stuff on my computer while you slept. All in all it was a pretty good morning.
Then mommy came over and you got a little agitated again. I mean we don't want to hog all the "Connor throws a fit for absolutely no reason anyone can imagine" time between the two of us, we have to share the wealth right? Well we did, mommy got her dose too. It wasn't too bad though, and around one o'clock (of course right when mommy and I went to go eat some lunch) you threw the biggest fit of the day and earned yourself a dose of chill out medicine from your nurse.
You must have been pretty tired because it zonked you and it lasted for a long time. That did make for a quiet afternoon though, and one where you were just as content as you could possibly be. You only woke up once or twice all afternoon and even then it was for short spurts and you were clearly ready to go back to sleep. I believe the look on your face was something along the lines of "seriously why in the world do you have that stupid camera in my face when I'm sleeping?!?!?!"
But you did spend most of the time snoozing. Even when Grandpa came up to check you out and see how you were doing you were out of it. He tried talking to you a few times but it just didn't work because you were too tired. You had been up for most of the morning and then a big chunk of the day before too so I can't say that I blame you. According to some of the docs you should be sleeping eighteen to twenty hours a day and you were up for at least ten on Tuesday. I think you were just afraid you would miss something.
So Grandpa took mommy and daddy to dinner down in the cafeteria and we all ate some tasty food while we talked about you and how you have been doing lately. The doctors have been happy with your progress and mommy and daddy have been thrilled and oh so proud like mommy said in her last note. Its been hard to go through all that stuff but you seem to be doing it with ease for the most part. Quite impressive.
So then after dinner mommy and I went next door to Ronald McDonald in hopes of an early night and some good rest but you had other plans. You wanted your parade a day early. And one thing that I have learned in the last month and a half is that you tend to win out with what you want and when you want it. Mommy and daddy hadn't even gotten inside yet, we were outside talking briefly to your former neighbors from the three hundred POD, when daddy's phone started ringing.
Daddy doesn't get a lot of phone calls in general, but when I pulled that phone out of my pocket my stomach jumped up into my throat and my hands went numb. It was the hospital calling me. At that time of night the hospital only calls with bad news. After forcing myself to take a deep breath I answered the call, it was your nurse. She said you had an "episode" and they were "working on your now" and the doctors were trying to decide whether or not to put your breathing tube back in.
I said seven words to mommy, "something happened, we need to go back". We all but ran from Ronald McDonald back over to your room and you had indeed started your own parade, mommy and daddy were two of the last ones to float by you. The nurse explained to us that you had started to drop all your numbers, every one of them, including your heart rate. I wasn't too concerned until she said she had to do compressions on your little chest again. She got you back to a normal level though, and got the doctors quick.
A doctor you hadn't really met yet was the one here first, I think his name is Chet. He was helping to get you back on track with several nurses and an RT all working on you at the same time. Then walked in Dr. Ileus, Dr. Morales, and Megan. This was only the second time I have seen Dr. Morales and been terrified. He was still in his surgical gear and had apparently left the operating room with a patient on the table to come up and check on you. That is some pretty serious stuff my friend, pretty serious indeed. After them you had the usual suspects in your parade; nurses, RT's, fellows, doctors, x-ray technicians, Chet again for an echo, more nurses from the IV unit to give you another IV, and of course mommy and daddy.
There were lots of people parading through your room and it seemed that you wanted a few passes from each before you were going to be happy so that is what we all did. People kept making trips back in here until finally you were calm and quiet. I think that took about five hours total, maybe six. But the important part is that you were calm, and you were sleeping, and there was no breathing tube. Dr. Ileus and Dr. Morales told us that they believed we needed "to make every effort possible" to keep the breathing tube out.
That meant dose after dose of medicine and two or more hours of you fighting with your CPAP mask while mommy and daddy stood over you trying to calm you down. I think the doctors knew you could make it through, they just had to get you calm enough to make sure your little heart didn't overwork itself and get tired like your lungs had. They don't really know what caused it or why but that will be today's mission, today we will figure it out so that we can fix it and keep moving forward.
But now you are awake again, and you aren't happy so its time for daddy to come talk to you about what today is and all the things you have to look forward to in years to come. We will write you another note later, one that carries the true tone of Thanksgiving so we can talk about some of the things we are so thankful for. In the mean time lets have a chat little man.
Mommy and Daddy love you Connor.
- Daddy
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