Maria got home from the hospital late yesterday. Cathy and Manolis are still pretty frazzled. So her “three day” hospital visit took nine days.
The trip home was interesting. Maria’s legs have to be in that position shown in the picture on the July 16 entry. Not only are her legs spread, but her knees are braced and can’t bend. She has a temporary wheelchair designed to accommodate the position, but it’s a folding wheelchair so technically shouldn’t be used for transport since it will just collapse in an accident. However what’s the alternative? Call an ambulance? So they drove home very carefully.
The bracing will make everything interesting: showers, diapers, even just transport around the house. They are figuring it out, but the house is already so cluttered with equipment it’s going to be interesting. That’s going to be life for the next six weeks.
Maria’s still on the NG tube because she’s not eating or drinking much. She’s on overnight feeds, meaning a pump slowly drips Pediasure down the tube while she sleeps. However last night, Maria pulled the tube out. The pump of course kept going, so when Cathy went to check on her, Maria was playing in the big pool of milk on the mattress. This is more than an inconvenience. If she pulls the tube out partway, milk could go into her lungs.
There’s also the issue of putting the tube back in each time Maria pulls it out–and she will. Cathy could do it alone when Maria was less than a year old, but it’s a bit harder with a struggling seven year old. She had Manolis hold Maria while Cathy inserted the tube in the hospital, and Cathy says he nearly fainted.
Maria’s more awake lately. We’re hoping that she’ll rally now that she’s home. Of course once she’s more awake, she’s probably going to get sick of being strapped in all the time so that will create a new set of problems.