To Jello!

Tomorrow is a big day: the nurses will remove Eila's NG tube, and more important, after six long days she gets to EAT!!!  Tonight, we enjoyed a celebratory lollipop.

CHEERS!!!

Eila's weekend

Saturday was a busy and tough day for Eila. Annikka, Grandma, and Grandpa came to visit us. It was nice to see them and reassure Annikka that everyone was okay. Unfortunately it seemed like Eila was starting to show the effects of her prolonged hospital stay, and wasn't really interested in anyone but Mommy.

Now Sunday is showing more promise. Eila had her epidural removed this morning and switched to IV pain meds. Losing the epidural also meant that she was able to get rid of her catheter and the 3 wires that were continuously monitoring her vitals (now she'll just be checked periodically). They also switched off the vacuum for her NG tube (the one in her nose that's draining her stomach) and think that it will be removed tomorrow - that means she can eat tomorrow! Wonder how that will go after 6 days of nothing.

We are all very excited about having less tubes/wires on her. Hopefully she'll be able to move around a little more this afternoon, too.

Dum-Dums

Earlier today Eila and I shed tears over her wishes to eat.

Eila: I want to eat.
Me: Not right now, but we can ask the doctor.
Eila: PLLLEASEEEEE!
Me: I'm sorry.
Eila: PLLLEASEEEEE Mommy!
    [repeat for several minutes]

Broke our hearts. Finally tonight, this is what we were able to give her ...

I don't think it really counts as food, but after 84 hours without food Eila was reasonably satisfied that we made an attempt. Fingers crossed that they will let her start eating soon.

Recovering on a new floor

Yesterday afternoon Eila improved enough to move off of the Pediatric ICU floor.We're now on the general medical wing (I'm a little disappointed she didn't get moved to oncology's wing). It's nice to settle into a bigger and some what quieter room.

Yesterday was a big day for her, along with the room change she was also up and moving around more. I was able to rock her in the morning and we read lots of books. Then she sat up in a chair for several hours in the evening. She was very happy to be vertical again, able to play and interact more.

Last night went reasonably well. She woke up around midnight with a bad dream, saying "No, I don't want to!" She had gotten herself up on all four and was a little tangled in all her tubes/wires. Unfortunately she had pulled her NG tube out a little (it's the one draining her stomach through her nose), and it had to be fixed - not something anyone would like to do at midnight. This morning the surgeon decided to have it x-rayed to see if it was still in the proper position. Eila would REALLY like to have this tube out, it's uncomfortable and she wants to eat (there's multiple requests for gummy bears). So we're waiting to hear back on this, as well as a long list of other things.

ICU II

It's 11:00pm and Dana, Eila, and I are about to spend our second night in the ICU.

 

That's kind of a bummer, but it's actually been a real good day.  Eila's kidney started outputting urine again at about 10:00am this morning (!), and she's been peeing all day.  Now they are keeping an eye on her blood pressure and heart rate (both are higher than they would like), but overall everyone is in good spirits.  

Eila was pretty tired and out of it all day, but she perked up about an hour ago.  As I write this Dana and Eila are reading books.  I wonder if Eila is planning to sleep anymore tonight?

Pediatric ICU night

Our night in the Pediatric ICU went much like you might expect: Eila slept, as long as no one was messing with her; Joel and I even got to sleep for a couple of hours. Overall Eila has been comfortable and they are managing her pain very well. However, we get the feeling we may not be leaving the PICU very soon because she's been given lots of fluids over the last 11 hours but has had very little urine output. At 3 am they did an ultrasound of her kidney and everything appears okay (no blockages, no swelling, and good blood flow). She needs to be monitored more closely until it's clear that her only remaining kidney is actually doing its job - nephrology will also be consulted today.

We don't really know what the day has in store for us, besides lots of doctor visits, labs, and monitoring of her kidney. Hopefully we will all be able to get more rest, too. Thank you all for your prayers for our little Eila. Unfortunately cell phones are not allowed in PICU, but we can continue our updates online.

Out of Surgery

Surgery was over just before 7:00 tonight.  We got to talk to the surgeon.  Everything went as expected, which is good.  They were able to remove the tumor, and he's optimistic about the amount of kidney remaining.  However, they did have to cut into the kidney's collection system, which means she'll have to be closely monitored (i.e., we're spending the night in the ICU).

It's been a long day in the waiting room, and Dana and I are still waiting to see Eila, but right now we're pretty happy -- happy to know that the tumor is out and that surgery appears to have gone well.

Here's hoping that tonight will be our only night in the ICU!