Long road to recovery

This last week has been tough. Kainen has been feeling a lot more pain. It started when we were in the playroom last (July 3rd) and has only gotten worse. It's been difficult to control it. He started out with his PNC (nerve catheter) and didn't need anything more than Tylenol for pain throughout the day. After surgeries he would need a dose of Oxycodone but that's it. After his 3rd surgery we started using Oxycodone every 4 hours but it didn't seem to do much. It would take 40 minutes to kick in then he'd have 30 minutes of relief and then the pain would start again. During his 4th surgery last Friday (July 6th) they put a new PNC in hoping that it would take away some relief again but as soon as he woke up the pain started immediately and they started pumping him with meds. They kept increasing the dose of Oxycodone eventually reaching the max intake and frequency as well as a dose of Morphine in between. When they finally realized it wasn't working they switched medications to Dilaudid (replacing Oxycodone) every 3 hours and Gabapentin for nerve pain (a drug commonly used for amputees) that he takes 3 times daily. This regimen seems to be working better but he still has sharp stinging pains that come and go and move around his foot. It's hard to get used to. The Gabapentin takes a few days to start working (he's on day two) so hopefully he'll get some more relief in a couple days. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime he's had some good distractions. July 4th my cousin, Lisa, and her two oldest, Lane and Charlie, came for a visit. Her boys picked out some goodies for Kainen...coloring, play dough, a truck, a yo-yo, etc. And some treats, including fresh strawberries from their garden, yum yum! They also brought a mini volcano to replace fireworks since, obviously, he can't light any off. They added baking soda and vinegar to it to creat the lava! It was pretty exciting :) They also brought pictures of Charlie when he broke his femur bone and had to wear a cast around his hips and down both his legs. They had pictures of him rolling around in the wheelchair. After they left that day Kainen said "well that kind of made me feel better, now I want to go home and use their wheelchair."


That night we were able to watch Seattle's firework show right out our room window. It was exciting for Kainen he was kind of bummed about missing the 4th but this helped a bit.

This is our view. The fireworks were to the left of the dark grey/black building on the far right of the picture...did you follow that? I couldn't get a picture of the fireworks with my cell phone, it was too dark.


This is our best sunset yet. The only plus to being here at the hospital.


Friday July 6th was a good day too. It was the day of his surgery and he was in pain but he received a lot of love. He got a package from his Aunt Kristin, Uncle Jeff and cousin Matilda in Hawaii. It was a nice reminder of our trip to Hawaii a few weeks ago (one day I'll get those pictures posted). It included a Marine Life activity/coloring book that he colored in today right by the tropical fish tank in the play room.


That same day he had some visitors from Dave's work. The Comcast team got some money together and, Vicky, one of the supervisors went out and got him a bunch of entertainment...Lego's, sticker books, markers, a notebook and...the grand finally...a 3DS with 4 games! He's been wanting one of those forever. Such a wonderful thing they all did for him and great timing too!


Other visits have helped too. Big thanks to the Selby's (my sister and her family), Grandpa Phil (my dad), Grandma Ann and Alan (my mom and her husband), Uncle Philip (my brother), Great Aunt Cheri (my aunt) and Great Uncle Fred and Kathy (Dave's uncle and his girlfriend).

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