Day 10 - Big Move!

Samuel is out of the ICU!! But first let me catch you up with yesterday's news.

Friday felt like another step backwards, as Samuel was feeling so tired, weak, and ill. He still wasn't able to eat more than a bite or two of food. His nurse that day didn't even ask him to try taking a walk. He was just too wiped. His blood pressure was much too high most of the day despite the 1 IV med and 3 oral meds that he was receiving. The doctors eventually tried a new medication that seemed to do the trick. Some further tweaking will be required.

When Katie came on Friday for dialysis, she brought along Esther, who spent the rest of the day with me in the ICU. We did our best to make up for lost snuggling time. Esther has some pretty strong aversions to the whole hospital scene. She sees what is happening to Samuel with the knowledge that she herself will have to go through a similar experience. I am very proud of her for coming to the hospital. It was nice to have her company while Samuel slept so much.

Saturday morning started with a visit from our nephrologist and our surgeon. They really are not able to predict what Samuel's new kidney will do. It is working some, but not as much as Samuel needs it to. They expect that he will be able to go home on Monday or Tuesday. That was good news! Esther's 12th birthday is on Wednesday and we certainly don't want to miss it!

Later in the afternoon, we packed our bags and bid farewell to the great nurses in the ICU. We took a short trip two floors up and arrived at the pediatric department. The Child Life staff had done a terrific job of decorating Samuel's new room. It was colorful, festive, and inviting. They had even written "Welcome Samuel!" on the window. We have already met or worked with many of the nurses on the floor, so there were smiles and warm greetings as we arrived. Samuel fell asleep in his wheelchair about 30 seconds after entering the room. Eventually, he woke up enough to climb into bed where he promptly fell back asleep. I unpacked and got us settled into our new home away from home.

Later this evening, Tom and Lydia came for a visit. I haven't seen Lydia in 10 days! She looked so grown-up! While Tom was able to stay with Samuel, I went back down to the ICU to visit a friend. Please read my next blog entry and please pray for Abby!