Children's Hospital Houston (part 3)

Possibly another shock?!

DAY 1 SATURDAY:

We walked into our room in the ICU and there were 4 doctors and several nurses. Everyone was so nice! The doctor told us we would be staying overnight to they could monitor him because he had a small chance in swelling up and going back into shock within 24 hours.

At this point, Gavin was still sedated and we were trying to figure out a plan. My husband still had to go back to the hotel to gather all of our belongings. Remember, the hotel was an hour and a half away from the new hospital. I felt awful making him drive back and forth but someone had to do it. We left everything at the hotel (clothes, chargers, diapers, Gavin's milk, all his bottles, etc.).

My husband came back and we then had to figure out where we would sleep. The hospital provided blankets and pillows and since it was the ICU they also provided a room with recliners they pulled back into a small bed. I was so exhausted. We both were. I ended up sleeping in the room with the recliners just around the corner from our actual room. I asked my husband to wake me up when they took Gavin off the anesteshia. 

He woke me up about 2am. Gavin woke up crying and I knew right away, he's hungry! The nurse said well give it a little bit before we feed him. I thought, wtf! no, my son is starving... he's gone 11 hours with nothing to eat or drink. We need up feeding him 3 bottles of just water because he was so thirsty and hungry. He looked up and us and put his arms up... he wanted to be held. We only held him for about 20 minutes then they gave him Benadryl to help the swelling and he feel right back to sleep. This happened all night. He woke up for 5-10 minutes then more Benadryl.  

DAY 2 SUNDAY:

We finally get a recap from how well he did the first night. We met with the main ICU doctor this morning and in her Russian accent she asked had we seen an Allergist, Dermatologist, and Nutritionist before. I looked at her with a blank stare like, uhhh no?! I didn't understand why we would've needed to. We've seen a dermatologist because of his eczema but that was it.

She said, "Oh no! You will not be leaving until you see all 3 doctors. After him going into shock like this you will need to be prepared just in case this was to happen again." I thought to myself, "AGAIN?!" I'm so grateful for this ladies help!! She said people wait months before being able to see all three doctors and they would be seeing Gavin all in one day. She told me, "I'll MAKE SURE he see's them all."

Well, the day turned into evening and still no doctors. My husband was now getting impaitent. He was worried about going back to work and running business. I understood, but I knew if we left we wouldn't get this kind of help in Dallas. He was getting impaitent seeing Gavin sleeping all day and night and looking well while we sat there doing nothing.

We finally got an answer and they said the Allergist would be in tomorrow because he doesn't work Sundays. A lady came in soon after and asked if we wanted to sign up for the "Ronald McDonald Room". She said, your nurse referred y'all to me. Its a complimentary room where you can sleep, bathe, and eat. My husband quickly got mad and said, no. I understood his frustration. He didn't want to be there any more. Not that he didn't want Gavin well, he hated seeing Gavin in this position but wether he wanted to believe it or not, we were.

In the meantime, I was trying to come up with a way in approaching my husband about getting the Ronald McDonald Room without sounding careless about what was join on. I went ahead and took it into my own hands without telling him and asked the receptionist to sign us up and so she did. Later that night the tension between my husband and I had gone down. We had a laugh every now and then and got to talking about what we planned on eating for dinner that night. He said, "Man, I'm so tired. I kind of wished we would've gotten the room." and I told him I did. He slept in the room that night still hoping we would be leaving that next morning while I slept on the chairs again so my husband wouldn't be tired driving the next day. 

I took care of Gavin that night and every time he started getting drowsy from the Benadryl he had a look in his eyes like, "Momma, don't leave me." I cried every time he started feeling drowsy. I felt he was forced to go back to sleep but I knew he was in the best care. 

DAY 3 MONDAY:

My husband came in about 5am and said he would watch Gavin while I slept on the bed in the Ronald McDonald room a few hours so we switched. The room phone rang about 8am. It was my husband letting me know the allergy team had arrived. I literally RAN from one side of the hospital to the other. I didn't want to miss a thing. The allergist explained what exactly happens when you go into anaphylactic shock. He showed us how to use the Epi Pen and what to do if it were to every happen again. Then he said a dermatologist & nutritionist would be in some time this week. Wait, what?! This week? We ended up staying another night because the dermatologist couldn't see us till tomorrow. 

By now, we felt like we lived in the hospital. My husband brought all our bags in so we had clothes. We bought take-out for breakfast, lunch, & dinner and we hadn't been outside in days because we didn't want to leave Gavin's side. We were literally going crazy! Gavin was too. He was starting to get really fussy.

DAY 4 TUESDAY:

Great news! The ICU doctor allowed Gavin to go outside today. Finally some fresh air! I felt awful. As soon as we went outside he sat there quiet and looked around for a very long time without saying a word. Like he was enjoying every second, every breeze, and even the people walking by. He started talking a bit and he had lunch with us outside.

We went back into the hospital and both Dermatologist and Nutritionist came in at once. They gave us a home routine to do and foods to start giving him. I learned what veggies are high in calcium and high in protein that day. 

We were moved to a regular hospital room that evening. It had a bed and a bathroom... thank God! lol. Things were good at this point. We had a lot more room to breath and even a play area for Gavin. We had Chipotle that night and Gavin slept peacefully with no Benadryl.

DAY 5 WEDNESDAY:

We were discharged about 6pm. I think Gavin was fed up with being there lol he didn't say one word from the time we walked out of the hospital till we got onto the highway going home. We were all so relieved and happy just to be going home.