Waiting to Pounce
Hannah and I spent the post-work night together, playing on the floor, watching her shows on tv, singing, and dancing. Suffice to say, she is feeling better, and we had a fantastic time together. Janette and I, on the other hand, are still recovering from last week.
Me, I'm exhausted. The hopsital shifts of 3-4 hours of broken sleep each night alternating with 6-7 hours of worry sleep at home have caught up with me. Last night, I slept 10 hours, counting an earlier nap, but still woke with some difficulty this morning.
I think the hardest thing right now is that, somewhere, a new diagnosis is waiting to pounce. Janette scheduled the follow-up abdominal ultrasound today, and it will take place in about ten days. Provided Hannah continues to do well post-hosptialization, that ultrasound will be our next opportunity to figure out what is going on. We've already received our Masters-Thru-Experience in Hannah RT, and I'm sure we'll master whatever else her body has going on.
Knowing that doesn't necessarily make it any easier, though. For us parents, we kind of thought we were on the offramp: extending her off-the-ventilator time, progressing beyond her October 2006 baseline. Coming off the vent prior to the late fall/early winter (bronchitis season - yuck) seemed possible.
Hannah herself is sold on the idea that the fewer tubes, the better! She enjoys rolling and seems to be standing better with some support. I imagine crawling or walking may be in the not-so-distant future.
But now the new diagnosis is lurking somewhere. Hopefully, we'll tame it quickly, and it will be relatively mild and/or correctable. We'll see soon (I hope - one doctor suggested we might never figure out the cause of the abcesses), but the waiting is going to drive me nuts in the meantime.
-- Dad
