Postscript: Recovery

Everyone is fine.  We're all healthy and breathing normally.  I am eating a great deal and perhaps consuming a bit more wine than usual.  And the week after Bridget went back to school, Lord knows I slept my ass off. (Or ass "on," as the scale may suggest)

I'm still feeling numb about the whole thing, which I think is ok.  Bridget's life was never in danger.  Even in intensive care, the first thing the doctor said was that she would be ok, but she needed a nurse to be able to respond to her instantaneously, which is not possible on the floor.  The only times I had that pit in my stomach was on Tuesday when 5 days in we weren't seeing any improvement and on Wednesday night when Type I diabetes was on the table.

This was not a fun experience.  But this wasn't cancer, cerebral palsy, or Long QT syndrome. We have friends who have these challenges and many of the other families we met at Hemby were dealing with these bigger issues.  I don't ever want to spend another night in the hospital, but emotionally, thank the goddess, we have never been down those other paths.

Still, I expect that we'll have those unexpected shocks to the system like we've had with Christopher over the last year--when he gets a cold, starts wheezing, or starts coughing more than he should. The unexpected part is going to the doctor and NOT being sent to the hospital and the shaking and adrenaline rush I get afterwards. I don't expect to get a jolt of electricity when we go to the doctor and get an OK check up.

Enough of the maudlin stuff.  I cannot stand that part of blogging.  Let's instead talk about how freaking amazing Hemby Children's hospital is.  In our 8 day, the kids had two "parties", a visit from the Discovery center, daily visits from the child life specialists delivering toys, DVDs and books, and two therapy dog visits.

This picture is of Jeff Taylor of the Charlotte Bobcats and two of the Ladycats who came by. Here is a better picture from the official Bobcats folks.  Jeff gave a donation to Hemby for parents to use iPads during their stays there.  I think it was generous both for the donation and to meet Bridget.  It was definitely a highlight of her day.

In fact, this next picture is Bridget showing ZeeZee (her new Zebra) the picture of all of them.  That's one of my favorite pictures of Bridget.  And ZeeZee seems pretty into it, too.  

 The next day, a therapy dog came to visit Bridget.  God bless therapy dogs.  She LOVED meeting this gentle, sweet dog.

In case you are wondering, yes, all of these things make a big difference.  The visits of folks break up the monotony of sitting there and waiting for the next respiratory therapy treatment. Even 10 or 15 minutes is wonderful.  And GOD KNOWS, there is NO SLEEPING in hospitals.  My first time in the hospital 5 years ago, one of the first memories that stands out for me after getting out of surgery is the nurse laughing when I told her that I was tired and just wanted to sleep:  This is a hospital!  You don't get to sleep here!

In any case, we are done with that.  I don't want to be back in the hospital ever again.  Done! Done. Done. Done done done.