Today was a good turning point for William. His radiation reading late this morning was 6 (units are in millirems per hr for all you engineers out there), which was low enough for his catheter to come out (he was at 55 mR/hr on Wed, and needs to be at 2 before going home). William was not as thrilled with the prospect of catheter removal as Mom and Dad were. Will has been a huge trooper for the last 6 months in countless ways, but he draws the line at anything having to do with inserting or removing tubes. I can't blame him. We tried to talk him through it, but in the end the brute force method of holding him down was employed, he screamed (more because of being held down against his will than from any pain), and the nurse and I were swiftly asked to leave the room and leave him alone.
But within an hour he was back to his chatty self that had been missing in action for several days since the infusion, and he was talking our ears off and mentioned to the nurse that he had been grumpy earlier, but felt much better. It is wonderful to have our good-old William back. He's gotten out of bed a few times (he's not allowed to go farther than the bathroom) and he has been doing more activities and eating a bit more. Hopefully he'll also be able to catch up on a few texts (I think Julie mentioned earlier that he has a cell phone while here in the hospital) that he hasn't felt up to responding to in the past few days.
Julie and I actually even got a quick walk in this evening - much needed, even though it was just between a distant parking spot and the Family House where Julie is staying tonight. We hope that William's radiation levels continue to drop and we can spend much more time outside of our hospital hallway home in the coming week. Things are going well and we're grateful to be here and have William's energy back up a bit to keep us entertained.
Grandma and Grandpa Murdock continue to keep the home fires burning at an impressive pace and I think the boys are having so much fun they may not want me and Julie back. We love and miss you boys (and all the rest of you too). Goodnight from your radioactive friends.
Thanks for the units, Ryan. If you could provide a few more data points and a best-fit regression type, we could trend your discharge hour. See you soon. Ask Will if he feels up to eating a few glazed donuts. :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I just came across your blog tonight and want to send you my best wishes. Good Luck to your little boy... My heart is breaking for you all and I can only wish you the best in his recovery. There has to be a miracle coming your way.
ReplyDeleteDon't think the boys are really loving us, it's the rainbow sherbet floats that are getting the rave reviews! Every night. It has become a staple like peanut butter and jelly. They are sure funny at times, and competitive at times. We are impressed that Cam and Nate are beginning to read so much. Nathan wrote all of his own words in his Arthur journal(with a little help with spelling.) It was great to see you, and the setup and Will and just be together. Even if it iwas brief. We are so looking to having everyone here. Even though we will have to leave after that. The house feel so great when it is full of boys. And a mom and dad.
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