An Important Update Part 2

OK here is somewhat of a timeline from my FB updates:

Day 1-I guess I didn't post anything but I thought I did.

Day 2:
Thank you everyone for the prayers and keep them coming. I took Z nearby to a friends relatives house to sleep. Thank God for amazing friends and strong prayers on the most horrible day of my life. Considering how bad things looked when it happened things could be in a much worse place right now. They will be monitoring all his issues in the icu all night. He is on a respirator (I think that's what it's called) but his lungs look better than they originally thought I think. He's opened his eyes several times and twice tried to reach up to his mouth. So positive signs for his brain. If all goes well tonight he might have surgery for the broken leg tomorrow. A is the sweetest boy you will ever meet, but he's a fighter who has been through a lot already in his life. Please know your prayers have meant more than I can describe today.

Later:
We are waiting for him to go into surgery for his leg sometime in next few hours. Very positive as he is considered more stable. Lungs look good, they think they are fine. Brain looks good. Everything looks really good compared to how things looked yesterday.

Later:
A is out of surgery and it went great. They are hoping to get him breathing on his own in the next hour. All other injuries look to not need any surgeries so things look great. As he comes off the anesthetic and hopefully is off breathing machine we can hopefully see where he is cognitively.

Later:
Tube is out he is doing well. They will be monitoring his breathing for next few hours.

Day 3:
A is doing amazing. Pray for comfort and peace for him, as he continues to wake every half hour and panic. It has gotten much more mild than it was but he is still very scared and confused. Pray for peace. And please pray for Matt and for him to have supernatural strength. He has barely left A's side through this whole ordeal and will be up all night with him at his bedside for when he wakes up and panics. Matt has been an amazing dad and husband through this but I know his body, heart, and mind are weary.

Later:
A continues to improve. His panicking has lessened during the night and he is off the morphine. He is mostly resting today while receiving more blood platelets. Please pray that his crit (not sure if that's right) levels don't drop anymore. Basically pray that his blood clots as needed and that he is not bleeding anywhere inside. They are hoping to dilate his eyes for a full exam later today. The best thing is that he spoke to Matt twice overnight! (He said it hurts and he needed to go to bathroom) Great sign.

Later:
He continues to improve. He will stay in the icu till they are comfortable that he has no bleeding into any of the fractures and that his lungs are working good, so pray that those things stay stable. His panicking continues to lessen although he is clearly still scared and confused every time he opens his eyes. The time in between when he needs the morphine (he is off the drip) continues to increase. He slept most of today which they say may continue given the concussion. So we are praying his body continues to heal while he rests and that he has peace and comfort in his mind and body. God has been so good to this sweet boy and the doctors and nurses are super happy with how he has progressed.

Day 4:
A had another good day. He continues to improve. He is still in ICU but they did get him sitting up (with support) today. Most of the time he is sleeping when the drs come by for his tests so hopefully tomorrow they can get him cleared for some of their concerns. Still watching his breathing as it's still a bit fast. He was awake a lot of today but he was not communicative at all. Please pray for his mental state as he has mostly withdrawn into himself and has not communicated at all.

Day 6:
Yesterday S and 2.0 had to go back to U. This is the 5th such goodbye for S and 4th for 2.0. My heart is so tired of saying goodbye to these boys. It was a rough past five days for all of my children. and once again we are a family that is not whole.

A is doing great. He is still very scared and confused but he has been cleared to move from icu. We may not get to move till tomorrow since we are waiting on a bed to open up. He tried to say a few things to his papa and me yesterday and today is having great success being verbal. We are able to understand him mostly and he is able to say very short sentences and words. He is also eating so really is truly on path to recovery.

Late day 6:Our little trooper is officially out of the ICU. He is totally on the mend. He is speaking short words today although only to me and Matt and my mom. (Mostly me) Waiting to hear from a dr for how long he is going to be here. Had some rough spots this afternoon but now is settled in and requested sitting up (big) and sitting in his wagon. We also got a short giggle and a smile out of him tonight. He is a bit upset that S and 2.0 are not here though. He wants all 7 of us together, I think that gives him comfort. Your prayers have been AMAZING and I truly think made the difference for his amazing and fast recovery.

Day 7:
I didn't post about this for some reason, I guess because it was too long of a day. His sodium levels dropped to crazy low levels and he got moved back to the ICU at this point. He had horrible headaches and was somewhat delirious most of the day. I just laid down with him and sang his favorite song to him over and over most of the day, trying to distract him from his fear and pain.

Day 8:
We are still in the ICU but his sodium levels are almost where they want them. He is feeling much better today. Yesterday was a hard one! It's heart wrenching to see your child in such pain and confusion.  We have gotten several half smiles today though, so much much better. Hoping and praying that this doesn't delay us moving to Seattle Children's Hospital....I was hoping we would be there by Tuesday.

Day 10:
A is doing great. They just moved him from the ICU back down to acute pediatrics. We are hoping to be transferred to the children's hospital on Thursday or Friday. He continues to improve physically and emotionally. Thank you for the prayers. They have made all the difference!

Day 11: No updates on this day but I posted this picture of Z. :)

 

We were in a very tiny space sharing a room and were doing a lot of waiting and pulling A around the children/burn floor in this red wagon he was partial to. He was still taking sodium tablets and having his blood drawn to check it every 2-4 hours I believe.

Day 12:

We are at Seattle Children's now. Great news is that they are hoping for a shorter stay here than originally though (5 days or less even). He got his staples out of his head yesterday and the dressing off his leg. They are super impressed with his progress thus far. We are hoping for a very productive few days here so that we can finally go home!

Day I don't know-he did amazing at his rehab stay at Children's and was able to be discharged on the 26th. He started speech and occupational therapy the following week on an outpatient basis.

His injuries ended up being:
A broken leg
several skull fractures
pelvic fractures
a lower spine fracture
the deflated lung which reinflated in the hospital
some left side weakness
The traumatic brain injury
-from the brain injury-memory loss, the sodium levels going crazy, and an ongoing problem with his swallowing of liquids-which means we are giving him thickened liquids at home.
-Misc bruises and scratches

All in all he is a LUCKY little boy and we feel so blessed that he made it and he is expected to have a full recovery. After the flurry of drs appts once we arrived home, we are now down to twice a week (3 different outpatient therapies) 45 minutes away. Other than some upcoming follow ups of course. He is almost back to baseline in most areas, and we hope to have him out of the wheelchair by mid October. (Other than needing it for long distances).

Because of the accident- it has highlighted his need for speech therapy (I tried back in Jan but the school district said he didn't qualify remember) as well as me pushing through to get him tested for an neurological brain damage he might have sustained in utero. (The impulsiveness/short term memory issues/speech delays etc) Basically, I am pushing to have him tested for FAS/FAE-which I have asked multiple drs about since bringing him home last year and have been put off every time. Either way, no matter what, we love him. But it would be good to have a direction for parenting and teaching him. (I am homeschooling both boys this year-but that's a post for another day!)