Brea is home from the hospital! The doctors felt she was safer at home than in the hospital because of the danger of her picking up another virus or infection while there. As long as she continues to drink she won't have to be readmitted BUT if she stops drinking she will go right back to Duke for more IV fluids. It looks like the IV antibiotics are doing the trick...the lung x-rays look a little better! She'll be checked at the local pediatrician's office today for dehydration and to make sure she is moving enough air and then again next week at Duke.
I felt so sorry for her on Saturday. The doctors and nurses all said that they didn't expect her to fight them because she is so little and so sick but she put up a fight when she saw the rubber gloves being pulled out. It took several trys to get an IV started because of the dehydration. Two doctors worked on getting the IV started while Brea and I sang. The more afraid she was, the louder she sang! I had to laugh when I realized that the two doctors, the nurse, Danny and Brooke were all singing along with us. We made it through several rounds of Jesus Love Me, You Are My Sunshine and I Am Thankful before they finally said that the IV was in. Within minutes Brea was sleeping soundly...exhausted from the fight. The plan was to get all of her blood work when they put the IV in but because they had such a hard time she had to be stuck again by the lab folks which meant another concert for the fifth floor patients! In between pokes Brea slept and slept and slept some more.
Sunday morning at shift change Brea's new nurse for the day came in to introduce herself. Brea said hi but was very quite. When the nurse left the room Brea said "Momma, she Chinese too!". I agreed that the nurse did indeed look Chinese (or at least Asian) and when she returned to the room I asked her where for was from. She smiled the sweetest smile and looked right at Brea and said "I'm from South Korea and I am adopted to". Brea then became Chatty Cathy and Nurse Jenny was a welcome visitors throughout the day. The lab folks, x-ray folks and echo team...not so welcome but she tolerated them a little better than she did the day before.
I've taken a lot of heat and made quite a few folks mad over the last two years when I wouldn't allow them to be around Brea for fear that she would get sick. Sometimes it was because I knew they had been sick or had a sick child at home. Sometimes it was because their profession exposed them to too many things that were known dangers for Brea. The first six months after a transplant are the scariest and the biggest chance of rejection and I'd say that is when I set the record for ticking people off but I was following instructions from the ACH transplant Team and doing what I thought was best for Brea. The second six months are a little less scary but still very dangerous for heart transplant patients. After the first year I relaxed a little but we still do not expose Brea (knowingly) to anyone who has had or been around anyone with a cough, cold, fever, vomiting or diahrea in the last 72 hours. It is hard to stike a balance between giving her a normal life and protecting her from the things that could be deadly to her. Things like Chicken Pox, Step Throat and Cold sores are usually just childhood illnesses for most children but for Brea they are so much more. She will always be fragile as far as her immune system goes because she will be on the anti-rejection drugs for life. I can't think about all the yucky things that are out there for to long or I might put her in a bubble and make her stay there. Instead I choose to use common sense, the instructions given by the doctors that care for Brea and I put my faith in God that He is going to protect our little peanut. She is so precious and I feel God entrusted her to me so I will continue to love, protect and care for her to the best of my ability and this weekend was a reminder that sometimes that means having to be the bad guy.
I have a couple of photos from the hospital and will try to get them on here later today.
Last but not least I want to thank each and every one of you who prayed, called, emailed, posted notes here on our website, drew pictures for her hospital room, offered meals or helped with Baker. I didn't realize so many folks still followed our site. What a wonderful feeling it is to know that so many people love and care for Brea. God bless you!
