Ben Details: Thursday

I promise I'm almost done giving the day-by-day details of our hospital stay last week. Then I'll move on to other, less dramatic and traumatic, events.

Thursday morning Ben and I were again awakened by a nurse checking his temperature and blood pressure. At least I expected all the nurse and doctor interruptions (3 stays each a week long for c-sections has taught me some of the procedures of hospitals). We again had a student nurse assigned to us. This time we had a girl, under 25, and more experienced than the guy the day before. She really seemed to know her stuff. She was really sweet and we enjoyed her all day.

When we woke up the RN informed us Ben was not to have anything to eat or drink because of his Meckle Scan at 1 PM. NO WAY, JOSE! That's going with out food or drink from 6 PM to 1 PM: 19 hours! Not gonna happen! So I began, again, campaigning the nurse for at least some juice. After some discussions with the doctors, they decided my little guy could eat breakfast.

He enjoyed a slice of french toast and apple juice while watching Clifford the Big Red Dog and Curious George. After breakfast the nurse brought in an iv and pump. Ben did not care for being leashed to the pole but he managed to do a fair amount of climbing and jumping despite the tube coming from his arm.

We spent the morning taking it easy and watching t.v. And snuggling. Lots of snuggling. = ) A little after noon, Daddy called to say he and the other two were on their way. So Ben and I watched out our window for our van. Finally we saw them drive by! We waited a few minutes and then walked down to the elevator to greet everyone.

Our little family was so excited to be reunited! Will enjoyed his time playing with Micah the day before but was really concerned about his little brother. He even asked questions about Ben dying!! Ben was excited to show Will "his" room and the playroom. We all managed a few minutes in the playroom before they came to get Ben and Daddy for the Meckle Scan.

After a while Will, Ellie & I returned to Ben's room and watched t.v. while we waited. If a t.v. is on it has Will's undivided attention so he was no problem to entertain. Except for when a nurse came in the room. One touched his foot as he sat on the bed watching t.v. The way he jumped you would have thought she'd jabbed him with a needle! Another one couldn't resist smushing his cheeks. That time he baled off the bed! Poor Will. He's been the most traumatized by the whole thing. = )

Meanwhile, Ellie explored our room and discovered the small bathtub/shower in the bathroom. After that she walked around saying "baff" and trying to get her pants off. Cute at home. Not so much in a hospital surrounded by a bunch of strangers.

While we three hung out, Ben experienced another traumatic event. Joel told me when they got back that they TAPED MY BOY TO THE TABLE! It's a good thing he went and not me cause I wouldn't have allowed it. They explained the procedure to me as x-rays with one of us standing right by him. It never crossed my mind they'd tape him down!! Good grief! Give the boy a little gas so he can sleep if it's going to be that necessary for him to be still. Not only did they tape him down but they lowered a machine within inches of his face! Joel said Ben cried a little bit and then fell asleep. Thank the Lord!!

When they returned to us Ben was refreshed from his nap and Ellie was climbing the walls for lack of her nap. It didn't take long to decide the Gang needed to head home. Just as they packed up to leave a volunteer book reader came into our room with a stack of books. As we said good-bye Ben's bottom lip pooched out and he started to get upset. Thankfully, the book lady quickly engaged him in a story and took his mind off the rest of the family leaving.

I had already established with the nurse before the scan that Ben could have soft foods for the afternoon and evening. His colonoscopy was scheduled for 1 PM on Friday and they snuck some stuff to clean out his bowels into his apple juice. Given he hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast, I requested a popsicle. Grape - his favorite. = ) Jello followed that.

About 4:30 the doctor on the floor came in and informed us "there is no reason for you to be here." "We've been talking about it all day." "We're afraid your insurance won't pay for you to be here tonight so we're sending you home." This was the first I had heard of ANY of this!! You can understand my frustration and surprise. Apparently, colonoscopies are done as an out-patient.

So I called Joel to come back and get us. Needless to say it threw plans for that night and the next day all off. While we waited for the doctors/nurses to rush our discharge papers through they brought us supper - more jello, juice, and broth. Needless to say, I ate the broth. I had a happy little boy with all those special treats for supper! Especially when they unplugged him from the iv pole!

We finally left the hospital around 6:30 PM and made a stop at Wal*Mart to pick up more juice, popsicles, jello and supper for Daddy. Once we arrived home the goal was to get Ben to drink the rest of the medicine to make him poop and to take him to the potty. The doctors had been very concerned about him getting "cleaned out" and that he wouldn't drink all the medicine. Clearly they are not accustomed to dealing with my boys, who've never met a medicine they didn't like. They even told us to buy enemas to further clean him out. Craziness! Given that he'd barely eaten anything for over 24 hours I wasn't concerned about him having much to "clean out." Not to mention I'd like to see one of them try to give a three-year-old boy an enema!!

Ben described the medicine, when mixed with apple juice, as being "spicy." About 9 PM we still had around 2 ounces left for him to drink. I asked Ben if he wanted it straight or mixed with juice. He said straight and gulped it down in 2 swallows. I think we were all tired of him going to the bathroom by the time we went to bed.

Around 10 PM we all fell into our beds. It was the first time in 2 days I didn't have a headache. And wasn't forced to listen to a t.v. My bed has rarely felt as good as it did that night!