We're Home!

Hello!

Sorry I'm just now updating! We got home Monday evening. We've been exhausted!

Lindley is a little sore, but that's to be expected. We're still having to keep her from running through the house and playing too roughly with her siblings. She has that broken bone down the center of her chest that will need 6 weeks to heal. She has one other wound besides the incision that we're having to take care of once a day. It's a hole in her side where the chest tube entered.

Understandably, the hospital experience was pretty traumatic for her. She is so shy and flips out just going for check-ups to the pediatrician. There were always people coming in the room touching her, sticking her, flushing IV's, etc. For whatever reason, they would pull her out of bed at 4 a.m. to weigh her. She lost 5 pounds which is a lot when you're only 32 pounds to begin with.

She used to take her medicine daily so happily and never complained. Now it's a scream fest that involves trying to get the meds down her throat before she spits them back out. Before she loved getting nakey. Now she doesn't want anyone to even lift her shirt because they did that to her constantly in the hospital. She seems self-conscious when she has to take off her shirt in front of her siblings. She puts her arms up over her incision. We have to rub medication into her incision and the wound from the chest tube, and that (along with anything else involving going near her shirt or giving her medicine) is another scream fest that requires her arms and legs to be pinned down so we can apply it.

Hopefully things will calm down as soon as the hospital becomes a distant memory. I wish we weren't already going back next Thursday for follow-up appointments. We felt like SUCH idiots on Monday. We talked to various people in the check-out process. Signed some papers. Told all the nurses good-bye. Walked clear across the other side of the hospital to get to our car. We even had Lindley buckled into her car seat when I received the phone call, "Uh, where are you? We haven't released Lindley yet. The cardiologist still has to see her, and we have to go over more information with you." AAACK! Once she said that, I remembered she said she had a folder for me. Lindley wigged out when we had to take her back to the hospital room and sit there for another hour as the world's slowest whoever she was went over every piece of information in the folder multiple times. Then the cardiologist came in, touched her, pissed her off, and started another crying binge that I almost joined in on.

Currently, I'm most concerned that Lindley isn't telling me when she's hurting because she knows she'll have to take medicine. She cringes when I have to lay her down to change her. She can't sit up from a lying down position very easily--especially if it's on a really soft surface.

The kids go from room to room to play. Though we check in on them constantly, it scares us to death if we hear Lindley start screaming. She shouldn't fall down or have a toy shoved into her chest. Her bones are wired together, so it's a strong hold, but we still have to be cautious. We also have to be very careful that she doesn't get sick. The incision and wound from the chest tube are direct lines to her heart, so it's also crucial that no bacteria finds its way through there.

I think that pretty much updates the situation and Miss Lin. I've appreciated you guys as always! I'll update as I get new information. Later!