Aedan: Week 46
This week was full of highs and lows. The weather was nicer, mostly in the lower 60s with one day even reaching up to 75 degrees. Samantha had a good week at preschool, I made a meal for a local family who just had a baby, we got to play outside and go on family walks, and we were looking forward to a weekend in Upland with Ben's family, as well as a fun night with friends on Friday night. We hadn't been to Upland since Christmas time, and Samantha was extremely excited about playing with Alaina, and seeing Uncle Timmy, Papa, and Grandma.
We did do something really fun on Wednesday morning. Samantha's friend, Matteo, from preschool, his mom, and his little brother Benton came over for a play date. I have been trying to reach out more to other moms, to make friends myself, and to encourage friendships for Samantha as well. She was SO excited about Matteo coming over because he was supposed to come over the week before but his mom hurt her back and couldn't come. Anyways, Matteo and Samantha had a blast together. He brought some Little Pet Shop toys over to share with Samantha. They played in the play room together, and they played trains up in her room together. They got along really well. I put Aedan down for a nap right before they came over, and he slept pretty much the whole time. I actually woke him up toward the end of our play date so that he and Benton could "play" together. Benton slept for a little while in the pack and play that I had set up in our bedroom, and then he just played on the floor the rest of the time while Andrea and I had a chance to talk and get to know each other. We had a great time, and I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to invite someone over. They would like to have us over sometime next week, so that's nice that they are willing to reciprocate the invitation.
The picture below was my attempt at capturing a moment when Ben was reading to Samantha and Aedan was laying there listening to the story as well. However, as soon as I came around with my phone to take a picture, Aedan was more interested in me than the book.
We did do something really fun on Wednesday morning. Samantha's friend, Matteo, from preschool, his mom, and his little brother Benton came over for a play date. I have been trying to reach out more to other moms, to make friends myself, and to encourage friendships for Samantha as well. She was SO excited about Matteo coming over because he was supposed to come over the week before but his mom hurt her back and couldn't come. Anyways, Matteo and Samantha had a blast together. He brought some Little Pet Shop toys over to share with Samantha. They played in the play room together, and they played trains up in her room together. They got along really well. I put Aedan down for a nap right before they came over, and he slept pretty much the whole time. I actually woke him up toward the end of our play date so that he and Benton could "play" together. Benton slept for a little while in the pack and play that I had set up in our bedroom, and then he just played on the floor the rest of the time while Andrea and I had a chance to talk and get to know each other. We had a great time, and I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to invite someone over. They would like to have us over sometime next week, so that's nice that they are willing to reciprocate the invitation.
The picture below was my attempt at capturing a moment when Ben was reading to Samantha and Aedan was laying there listening to the story as well. However, as soon as I came around with my phone to take a picture, Aedan was more interested in me than the book.
All of our plans changed when I received a phone call from my sister, Christy, early Friday morning. Early Friday morning, around 1:30 a.m., my brother, Matt, had a seizure. My dad heard him crashing around in his room and went to help him, while my mom called 911. Matt was taken to the ICU and seized again around 8:15 Ohio time. That seizure was much bigger and combative, so they had to restrain him. Matt was born with a heart condition called mild aortic stenosis, and the doctors weren't sure if his heart condition caused his seizures or not. A cardiologist and neurologist were going to see him during the day on Friday to determine what was going on and what steps needed to be taken. Originally, they were going to plan an angiogram and cardiac catheter for Monday, but then decided to move the tests to Friday. There was definitely a sense of urgency, mostly because of the continued high heart rate and low blood pressure. At first, the neurologist didn't think his heart condition and the seizures were related, and Matt was put on seizure medicine which meant he would not be allowed to drive for 6 months. His tests were over around 2:45, and they discovered that his arteries were good, but his valve was pretty narrowed and was leaking. The doctors thought that the seizures may have caused some decompensation of the heart. The cardiologist talked to the surgeon, and they were looking to schedule open heart surgery for that afternoon.
As all these events unfolded throughout the day on Friday, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I couldn't believe my older brother was in the hospital, about to go in for open heart surgery. I couldn't believe how quickly everything was moving with scheduling the surgery right away, giving all of us a feeling that things were a lot worse than we thought. So, instead of staying in Upland for the weekend, we dropped Samantha off in Upland so that Papa and Grandma could take care of her for us, and so that she could still have the opportunity to see Alaina, Aunt Jeni, and Uncle Timmy. It would have been really hard to have her with us when visiting and waiting at the hospital. They couldn't keep Aedan since I am still nursing him. So after getting Samantha settled and switching over her car seat, Ben, Aedan, and I hit the road again, on our way to Chicago. It had already been a long, emotional day. Luckily, we had a good trip and made pretty good time.
Matt went into surgery around 4:00 p.m. Chicago time and the doctor started the incision around 5:05 p.m. They expected the surgery to last about four hours. We arrived at the hospital around 8:15, and luckily Aedan fell asleep in the car for an hour or so before we arrived in Chicago, giving us the opportunity to talk with my family and get updated on how Matt was doing. He was still in surgery, and they hadn't heard much of an update about how he was doing yet. Although, at that point, no news was good news because if the doctor were to come out early to discuss something, that would mean that Matt took a turn for the worse. Brielle and Aedan had a good time hanging out for awhile that night. They were very interested in each other, although Aedan wanted to wrestle with Brielle a little too much for her liking. After waiting until about 10:00, when they said they would know some information, Ben, Aedan, and I decided to just leave to get checked in at our hotel and put Aedan down to bed. He was tired and needed to get to sleep. We had a room at a Staybridge Suites hotel a couple miles away from the hospital. We like hotel rooms with suites because then we can have Aedan (or Aedan and Samantha) sleep out in the living room area, while Ben and I can still be up doing things or watching TV in the bedroom. It also has a bathroom attached to the bedroom so that we don't disturb them when we get ready in the morning.
A little before 1:00 a.m., I finally convinced my parents to go home. Matt was still in surgery and hadn't been moved to the ICU yet. My parents wanted to wait until he was moved and they could see him, but my dad had been up for almost 24 hours, they had both been through a lot, and they needed to go home and get rest while they could. Christy, Matthew, Brielle, and I stayed at the hospital until Matt got settled in a room in the ICU, and we were able to go back and see him. Matt finally got moved sometime after 1:00 a.m., but we still had to wait until almost 2:30 a.m. before we could go back and see him. His heart was beating on its own and was strong. There was some arrhythmia, but nothing that would be considered unusual following heart surgery. He was on a ventilator, and he was heavily sedated so that his body could continue to recover without having to worry about being awake and breathing on his own. However, he was out breathing the ventilator, which meant some breathing was happening on its own, so that was a good thing. We all got to go in and see him that night, and we talked to the nurse about how he was doing. It was difficult to see him in a hospital bed like that, hooked up to so many machines, with a tube down his throat and wires everywhere. However, we were relieved that he made it out of surgery.
I got back to the hotel and in bed at like 3:30 a.m. I was exhausted, but it was hard to fall asleep. I was worried about Matt and so hoped that he would continue to improve, that everything would be uphill from there on out. Luckily, Aedan slept in until about 7:00, which was nice. I certainly needed some sleep. After eating breakfast together at our hotel, I put Aedan down for his morning nap, before heading back to the hospital to meet up with my family. Once everyone arrived, we all went in to see Matt together. It was rough. My parents were understandably emotional. Even though Matt was sedated, he could recognize our voices and started to stir when he heard us talking to the nurse. He was still restrained so that he didn't try to pull any of his tubes out, but when he heard us he started moving his arms and pulling, trying to move around. We went out in the hallway so that we wouldn't disturb him anymore, and my parents just started crying. Christy hugged mom, and I hugged dad, but he wanted to go off on his own after a little while. He's not used to being emotional in front of us. This was a new experience for all of us. It was hard to know how to help my parents, how to be there for them, and what to say to them. I tried to remind my parents that without this surgery Matt probably would have a heart attack and die, that even though having open heart surgery is not what they would wish on their son, the doctors know what they are doing, and they are working to provide him with a better heart and a better quality of life.
The nurse told us that Matt would continue to be on the ventilator and be sedated until Sunday morning when they would do some tests with deep breathing and coughing to see if he would be strong enough to come off the ventilator, then they would go from there on what steps to take next. She said the main purpose of Saturday was to let his body rest and work on healing itself. She actually encouraged us not to come into the room and talk because it would make Matt stir too much, bringing up his heart rate, which was something they were trying to keep steady and controlled. So for the rest of the day, we would occasionally peek in on Matt and talk with the nurse, but we wouldn't go into his room for fear of disturbing him.
Aedan took a good morning nap, and then I went back to the hotel to pick up Ben and Aedan, bringing them back to the hospital. After visiting and talking for awhile, we decided to go get lunch at Panera and then head our own directions for the afternoon. Aedan needed an afternoon nap, even though it was much later than usual. He was going down for his nap at the time he normally is waking up from his nap at home. I was pretty tired from being up so late into the morning, so I was ready for a nap myself. However, like usual, I couldn't fall asleep, I was just too worried about Matt and how he was doing back at the hospital. That evening, once Aedan woke up from his nap, we went back to the hospital to see Matt and to be together as family. My cousin Brian and Aunt Diane even came to visit around 7:30 that evening. It was good to see them and talk to them, even though it was under not the best circumstances. However, it was already way past Aedan's bedtime, and he actually had fallen asleep in Ben's arms while we were all in seeing Matt before heading out for the night, so we didn't stay for too long.
On Sunday morning, my dad texted me with great news. The nurses had Matt doing breathing exercises and hoped to have him off the ventilator in less than an hour. The breathing tube was taken out less than an hour later, and Matt was doing great. After putting Aedan down for his morning nap, I left for the hospital again, while Ben stayed at the hotel and did some work while Aedan slept. I went in to see Matt with my parents and it was so great to see Matt. He could talk, but his throat, mouth, and lips were really dry from having the ventilator in for so long. He was still really tired because of the pain medication he was taking, and he was really emotional when he saw us walk in the room, crying when he saw us. I don't think he full grasped all that had happened to him yet, how serious his condition was, how close he was to dying; and also how much we truly do love and care for him, enough to sit at the hospital to be with him and for us to drive to Chicago from Oxford to be there for him.
Aedan ended up taking over a 2 1/2 hour that afternoon, so I just went back to get Ben and Aedan once every one else was leaving the hospital. Ben sent me this picture of Aedan when he woke up that afternoon with caption that read, "Hi mom!"
We got back to the hotel after 2:30, got everything situated, and I put Aedan down for his afternoon nap. His schedule was so out of whack! But he really enjoyed rolling around on the floor of the hotel room and playing with his toys.
After saying good-bye to Matt and leaving the hospital, we picked up some deep dish pizza from Giordano's and brought it back to our hotel. My parents, Christy, Brielle, and eventually Matthew joined us there for dinner and some additional time to hang out together. However, it was nearing Aedan's bedtime, and he had already eaten dinner while we were waiting at the hospital, so he was slowly losing it even though we were letting him roll around and play on the floor to amuse himself. We planned to leave to go back home after breakfast the next morning, so we said good-bye to my family. The good thing is that we already had plans to travel back to Chicago in a month when Ben presents at a conference, so we will see everyone soon.
Monday was a long day of traveling. Aedan did pretty well in the car, playing in the back seat and taking a nap on the way to Upland. We took a little break in Upland to pick up Samantha, and then we hit the road to get back to Oxford so we could pick up Roscoe and get situated at home for another week. We had two tired kiddos on our hands, and luckily, they both took a nap in the car on the way to Oxford.
For a couple of weeks now, Samantha has been needing to go to the bathroom much more frequently than normal. It used to be that she'd go all night without having to go, or go when she wakes up in the morning and not have to go again until lunchtime. This was not the case anymore. She was waking up at least once a night needing to go potty, sometimes twice. During the day she was going much more frequently, sometimes as much as four or five times in a span of two hours. Nothing changed regarding her fluid intake, and we were truly perplexed by this. We hoped that it was just a phase that would pass, but now we were getting concerned that there could be some medical issue behind it because it wasn't going away, but seemingly getting worse. Even though Samantha went to the bathroom two times before we left Upland, we had to stop twice for her to go potty while driving the two hours from Upland to Oxford. Of course this meant waking Aedan up and making him crabby, sitting in the car waiting. We were getting really frustrated with this behavior because it was really impacting our way of life. We were encouraging her to empty her bladder and she said she was, but it didn't seem like it to us. So, after getting everything unpacked and having a quick dinner, I took Samantha to the employee heath clinic on Miami's campus to get her checked out. They had her leave a urine sample and when tested they found a trace amount of bacteria in it. She didn't have any other symptoms of a bladder infection because it didn't burn or sting when she went to the bathroom, and she didn't have a stomachache or a backache or a fever. However, the doctor at the clinic prescribed her an antibiotic to take care of the bacteria they found as we waited for the culture to be sent out for further testing. We hoped that this antibiotic would help solve the problem and bring Samantha's bathroom habits back to normal. More on that to come in the next post.
(Blog about March 10-16, 2015)
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