Bear's Hospital Trip

Whooooo! Big deep breath. I'm still trying to catch up after having strep throat for a week and then being in the hospital with Bear for three days. But, I want to blog about it while it's fresh in my mind.

It all started Thursday morning when Bear woke up with blisters all over his thumb. They were big and full of puss. Dwight was dying to pop them, but I wouldn't let him and I made Bear a Dr.s appointment. I took him in that morning and the Dr. popped them and cleaned and bandaged his thumb. She started him on antibiotics. That evening I cleaned and rebandaged his thumb and felt a little worried about it, like it wasn't healing as quickly as I would like, but not panicky yet. Well, he woke up the next morning with a sausage for a thumb. It was huge. It was soooo red and hot, and there were red streaks going up his arms. Soooo panicky now. Put my girls on the bus to school and headed back over to the Dr. who had scheduled a follow up anyways. She took one look @ it and told me she was going to make some phone calls, that there was a surgeon she wanted us to see. She came back in a few minutes later and told me she wanted me to head to the hospital. She wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go when I got there but that she would call me as soon as she knew. The hospital is about a 20 minute drive from the Dr.'s office. So, Bear and I headed over. I was nervous but trying to be optomistic. I called Dwight and he immediatley panicked. He tends to catastrophise things in this kind of situation. When I said surgeon he was sure that Bear was going to lose his thumb. I tried to stay calm and keep him positive. He made arrangements to get a ride to the hospital. (I drove him to work that morning, we still only have one car). On route Dr. called me and told me we were checking in to the pediatric emergency room and Dr. Goldstein the surgeon would come down and see us. So, Dwight met us there and we were checked in, waited a couple of minutes and they took Bear into one of the rooms there in the emergency department. Dwight gave Bear and blessing and we both felt a lot better. We didn't wait very long and Dr Goldstein came to see Bear. I liked him immediately. He was great with Bear and explained things and eased our concerns. He explained that Bear had a bad infection that he would go in and do some exploring and clean up his thumb. He got an operating room prepped and we were taken upstairs. Two girls from the Child Life department came in to talk to Bear before his surgery. They gave him a teddy bear and showed him pictures of the operating room. They gave him his sleepy mask and let him decorate it with stickers. They let him pick a flavor and paint his sleepy mask. He picked root beer. I gave him lots of kisses and they wheeled my boy off in a red wagon with his new teddy bear blowing bubbles all the way to the operating room while Dwight and I watched him go, the doors closed and there we were. I choked back my little tears and prayed for my boy that I love so much my heart could explode. Dwight and I sat in the waiting room feeling optimistic and like our boy was going to be just fine. It didn't take very long, maybe 30 minutes and Dr. Goldstein came to tell us that everything went well and that we would be able to see him in a few minutes in the recovery room. He had cleaned his thumb and removed the nail. That he would be admitted for a couple of days for IV antibiotics. My boy got an infection in his thumb. Who knows how???  He woke up very quickly and furiously. He was confused and didn't understand where he was. They brought us in right away and he calmed down. Plus they gave him some sort of medicine to help him calm down. :) We were in recovery for a couple of hours and then up to our room. Cardons Children's hospital is the nicest hospital ever!!!!! We had a beautiful private room. Bear had tons of movies to pick from like a hotel. The first day the Child Life girls brought in a Nintendo game cube. Sooo fun. Then the next couple of days we had the Wii. Bear had unlimited popsicles and red jello. He drank lots of apple juice and chocolate milk. He had no pain, since the surgeon gave him a pain blocker and then they gave him some meds through his IV. He was happy as could be. Dr. Goldstein came on Saturday afternoon, even though he was on vacation and checked Bear out and said we'd probably have to stay until Monday. A girl from Child Life once again came and read Bear and book and played with him with a toy while the Dr. redressed his wound. Afterward she took him to the toy closet. A big room filled with shelves of toys for him to pick one to take home. On Sunday morning Dr. Goldstein came in again, still on his vacation, and Bears thumb was looking fabulous (it still looked pretty ugly if you ask me). So, he said we could stay for his afternoon antibiotics and head home that evening. YAY! I was so ready to go home after being there two nights. Bear didn't want to go. He loved it there.

We didn't get a very good before picture, but here is an idea of his sad sad thumb

My bed, not so bad really, Cardon's is a beautiful hospital!!!

Bear and the fabulous Dr. Goldstein. Thumbs up!!!

visitors

I am sooo soo thankful!!!! Thankful to my pediatrician for taking such good care of my kids. For her not just sending us to the emergency room, but calling ahead and sending us to the best surgeon ever! Thankful to the Child Life girls for making things so easy for Bear. Thankful for our health insurance so we won't be in debt for the rest of our lives because our son needed to be hospitalized. Thankful to Dr. Goldstein for being wonderful with my Bear and for saving his beautiful little thumb. Thankful that my hubby was able to give Bear a blessing. For the knowledge that I have that my Father in Heaven is mindful of my little family. That there is a plan for us and that we can be together forever. Thankful thankful for my wonderful, beautiful and healthy children. Thankful it wasn't two weeks later so we will be home for Christmas!!! So, so thankful for my beautiful and HEALTHY children. Thoughtful and prayerful for all of those who have children who have health problems. I promise promise to always be thoughtful of those families and to donate some toys for the toy closet now and forever to come.