Saturday, October 28, 2006

A Recipe for Disaster

Take one sick, tired toddler, put him in a hospital bed for two-and-a-half days; tether him to an IV machine; have nurses come into his room every 4 hours to poke, prod, and otherwise tick him off; stick weird tubes and masks in his face and keep them there; and put him on steroids. Sprinkle liberally with temper tantrums for good measure.

We found out on Tuesday that Noah has Respiratory Airway Disease (which is basically asthma, but they don't call it that). His breathing was VERY shallow and labored so we took him in to the clinic to see Jackson. Without going into every detail, we ended up in the hospital for a couple of days to try to get his blood oxygen levels up. Our doctor, of course, was great, our nurses were mostly great (one was pretty slow, and she was the night nurse), the food wasn't even that bad. But it was an absolutely trying time. Noah was wired and exhausted at the same time and we were worn out from accumulative lack of sleep and dealing with his screaming and crying. But it was a successful stay--Noah is now much, much better, breathing normally and getting plenty of O2 to that little body. He's on several drugs, but takes them all really well (as every boy should? "Don't take drugs!") He's having residual temper tantrums, having gotten away with it for two days, but overall he's back to being a happy, active toddler. Very, very active.

One of the funny things to come out of this stay was a new phrase for Noah. While we were in the hospital, he was able to walk around the kids floor (which was great, lots for him to do), but every once in a while he'd say "I suck. I suck." It took us a little while to figure out he was saying, "I'm stuck." He would get tangled up in his IV line, and we'd tell him to wait, Noah, you're stuck, and he obviously picked up on that. So, if you happen to hear him say, "I suck", you can agree with him and not feel bad about it--so long as you give the little guy a hand.


~Melissa~ said...

I've been thinking about you guys since Maria told me that Noah was in the hospital, and I'm glad to hear that he is doing better. Hope he's back to 110% very soon.

mary said...

I was relieved when Brooke and Adam let me know everything was fine. Poor little guy. Poor bigger guys who were helping him (hopefully you realize I mean you n' Aaron). I really hope things are calm for a good long while.

So, is it bad that I'm having images of Noah in a teeny hospital gown, wandering around the kids' floor, leaving a swath like a miniature Moses in a Red Sea made out of Legos and other toys? Of course, until he "sucks."

angela said...

Very glad to hear he is ok, and I too couldn't help but conjure up images of the terrorizing toddler stopping suddenly and desperately trying to convey the message that he stuck.