- A visit from Cinderella, Prince Charming, and Gus the mouse, who gave her a princess wand and pink bracelet.
- A stroll around the hallway of her hospital ward, making friends and checking out the artwork on display.
- An excursion to the hospital's rooftop garden, during which we watched transport helicopters land on the roof near us, and wondered what the blaring sirens and strobe lights meant (it turned out to be a false fire alarm).
- A Dairy Queen treat with Christa and Curtis to celebrate Christa's birthday.
"Joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Romans 12:12 NIV)
Friday, June 28, 2013
Maybe Tomorrow
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Fuzzy and Furry Day
Monday, June 24, 2013
Less is More
Today, Kyra lost a lot of things... such as tubes and IV lines. But she gained some things, too, including another unit of whole blood (her third), an intense dislike for respiratory therapy, and a purple butterfly body brace.
With the body brace on, we were able to get her out of bed for the first time since her surgery, and into her reclined wheelchair for an hour.
Kyra also kept a few things the same today, such as her passion for "Fiddler on the Roof", and her cool E.T. finger.
Peace.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Out of ICU
Kyra made it out of ICU today, and onto the regular inpatient surgical floor. She slept most of the day... healing is hard work.
She's still working through some issues with breathing, heart rate, and blood counts, so your thoughts and prayers are welcomed.
Peace.
(Here's a pic of the "Christmas Tree" she's been hooked up to.)
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Surgery Day Plus One
Kyra's spinal surgery took about 5 hours yesterday; she was in the OR for about 7 hours total. Her new back is beautiful!
Since then, she has been in the ICU, trying to manage pain and muscle spasms without surpressing her breathing too much. A pretty tricky feat when you're already on seizure medication.
She also had a bit of a fever, and some gunky chest stuff that we've been working on getting rid of.
The hospital staff is superb, though, and extremely attentive. Kyra is in very gifted and compassionate hands.
Dr. Christa, Curtis, Celia, and Grandma Joan are here with us today. Along with a couple of thunderstorms.
She's doing much better this afternoon, so maybe she'll have to leave this ICU room with a great view of Forest Park, and onto the regular floor tomorrow.
Peace.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Intervention Radiology (IR) Day
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Travel Day
Here's Kyra's list of travel essentials:
- Cool sunglasses.
- Cuddly blankie.
- HPU baseball cap.
- Well-worn "Fiddler on the Roof" program.
- Spare "Fiddler on the Roof" program - just in case.
- Purple hippo.
- iPad loaded with PBS Kids and Amazon Cloud Player apps.
- Smartphone with wi-fi hotspot, so Kyra's iPad can stream PBS Kids videos and play favorite Cloud Player tunes anywhere, anytime.
- Sense of humor. Actually, both Kyra's dad and I nearly forgot to pack this; thank goodness Kyra brought along enough to share.
Peace.
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Joyful in Hope Benefit
- People can do whatever they put their mind to.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Pre-Operative Assessment Day
What we learned today:
- The Barnes-Jewish hospital complex is BIG: Wear comfy tennies!
- It is impossible to lie completely still for 2 minutes... when you've just been told that you have to lie completely still for 2 minutes. Looking at photos of friends, family, and pets helps.
- Elbow-length lead gloves are very heavy: It takes two radiology technicians to help Kyra try them on for size.
- Navigating hospital directional signage get easier with practice. Even while speeding down ramps and yelling "WHEE!"
- Hospitals are cold: Bring a blankie!
- Hospitals don't break for lunch: Bring lots of snacks.
- My brain can hold only so much information at one time: Bring a notebook and pen!
- Kyra's surgeon knows what he's doing. What's more, he didn't make us feel stupid for asking the same questions over and over and over. Like, will Kyra be able to ride horses again? (yes!) Will Kyra be in pain in the future because of the surgery? (no!) In fact, he seemed to get more patient with each question.
- The compassion of the 6th floor surgical reception staff is awesome. I'm just sayin'.
- Anesthesiologists take their job very seriously. Very. Seriously. And, they have way cool technology that lets them monitor patient status with every heartbeat.
- Kyra is very brave. Eleven vials of blood, and not one flinch. Kudos to phlebotomist Tamika, who drew all of Kyra's blood with a single needle poke, remembered to use the fancy band-aid, and didn't even leave a bruise.