Fight the good fight

Fight the good fight every moment

Every minute every day

Fight the good fight every moment

It's your only way

It was another rough afternoon and evening with Bobby, so both Mamas stayed overnight at the hospital. He was insolable for most of that time, crying, screaming, thrashing, and trying to roll over, sit up, pull off his oxygen cannula, pull at his chest tubes. The doctor on call agreed that it seemed to be pain related, and multiple drugs were tried - two doses of morphine, a dose of benedryl, and two doses of Ativan, all to no avail. It was all hands on deck, with the Mamas trying to keep Bobby from hurting himself, and the nurse administering drugs. We could not figure out the source of his discomfort, other than the obvious surgery related incisions and tubes.

In the end, they gave Bobby what the nurse referred to as, "the drug of last resort," chloryl hydrate, and finally, he was out like a light until this morning. Thank goodness, for all concerned!

In the process of all the thrashing, Bobby managed to pull out his nasal oxygen cannula, and the docs finally relented and Bobby no longer has any more junk on his face. Bobby's oxygen saturation levels without the cannula have been in the low 90s and overnight, the nurse did administer the oxygen blow mask at some point, but not for long periods of time. Yay for stubborn and yay for progress, of sorts!

Rounds this morning were uneventful. The docs aren't exactly sure what to make of his discomfort. They don't believe he is addicted to the morphine or other pain meds he's been on since the surgery. I, on the other hand, believe these episodes are a bit too reminiscent of the Amy Winehouse thrashy, fitful withdrawal stuff Bobby went through during his last surgery, February 2009, where he was ultimately put on methadone to come off the pain meds. But, what do I know?

For now, they are changing out some of his pain meds - trying IV motrin instead of g-tube motrin, and keeping in their back pocket the idea of possibly doing 1 dose of chloral hydrate during the day if things get bad, and 1 dose at night, for sleep.

Other than that, we wait for the chest tubes to stop draining. The drainage is slowing down, but not to the degree needed for their removal. Monday was mentioned as a possible day they might be removed.

This morning, the Mamas are planning to take advantage of a free seated massage courtesy of the Hospital's Brown Family Life Center. Mama A will then return home for a much needed respite, and this Mama will do her best to keep things calm and quiet for Sir Bubsalot.

Here's hoping for an uneventful weekend!