PICU - Day 2

Sorry for the lack of eloquence but Joan needs to come home and get some rest. Jessie and I will head up to the PICU in a few minutes for the day shift.

Evidently the plea for prayers last night worked. Around 10PM Ben "returned" to us. Joan said it was almost like yesterday's incident. No warning, no slow transition, and lots a possible whys. In a few short seconds he went from painful screaming to delirious laughing. She said he smiled and played with the nurses until 12 and finally passed out around 1. The "vampires" came in around 4 this morning to draw blood and he didn't even move. If you knew how hard a "stick" Ben is you would know this was a small miracle in itself.

Part of his recovery we know was due to IV fluids (dehydrated), Zantac (stomach pain), and Dilantin (seizures). But all of those were given before we left last night. So we guess the "switch" was turned back on.

Although the docs have not done rounds yet we sort of know the plan. They'll start slow feeding sometime late this morning. If all goes well the feeding rate gets increased throughout the day. I'm not sure I mentioned this last night but his shunt was tapped yesterday (trust me, that will be a blog post in the near future - Joan, me, and even Jessie were the nurses on duty - very weird experience). All indications so far tell us it was not a shunt malfunction but the fluid taken from the tap will be the final say on that (more on the shunt situation after this is all over).

He's already being weaned off of oxygen and more than likely after a few more "vampire" visits we'll get the all clear and then we wait for the discharge. That actually could come later on today but most likely will be sometime tomorrow. We will then come home and try not to dwell on "the next time."

I do have to say all of those doctors and specialists we worked with way back in the NICU days 9 years ago had us very well prepared for yesterday. Although it was not the first time we've had to use extreme intervention to keep Ben alive it was by far the most frightening. I also have to repeat something we've alluded to occasionally but really needs to be spelled out. Our nurses are not only the best but they are a very real part of our family. There is no doubt that Nurse Vickie saved Ben's life yesterday. Yeah, it's her job but I'd bet she would trade all of her salary to get back the tears that were streaming down her face when they shut the ambulance door yesterday. She traveled with us to the hospital and stayed until Ben was about to be moved to the PICU. I also know Stacey and Lisa would've done the same.

Continue to pray for all of us. The only way I can update from the hospital is via my cell phone which can access the comments section below. However I probably won't update again until tonight. Thanks for all of the e-mails and comments. Those truly mean a great deal to us right now. We sort of feel isolated from the world right now - you are our connection to hope and comfort.

PS - Kyla, thanks for listening last night!