Today Alan had to be admitted to MD Anderson in order to start preparation for his surgery tomorrow. However, because part of this prep involved his digestive system, he couldn't have any of his normal pediatric drink after midnight last night... so he was NOT happy that basically he was stuck drinking water and juice for all morning and most of the afternoon.
After a morning of allowing him to sleep in a little bit, we headed off to the hospital to be admitted. But because he was a pediatric patient with a sarcoma requiring surgery, there was some confusion about where to go for admittance, lab work, etc, and in what order (admit first, then lab work, or vice versa). Alan went up and down the escalator while Mommy dealt with Admissions and he was having so much fun we wished we could let him to do that all day long.
At one point, Daddy was stuck near a window just so his cell phone connection was good enough to talk to Doc L's PA trying to straighten the issue out. Eventually, we got admitted, and a room... which we promptly were moved out of to a different room, so the charge nurse (think of the overall pediatric section nurse) could give us a room with our own nurse for more personalized attention.
Ah, time to settle in... at least for a bit, because it is unknown how long Alan will be in ICU after surgery, and if we will have to move out of the room... so we kept our footprint light to move quickly if we need to.
Warning, poopy talk ahead...those with squeamish digestive systems may want to skip this part.
Alan needed to have a 'bowel cleaning' (yes, that's as unpleasant as it sounds) before surgery, and because there was no way he was going to drink the 2 liters of Go-Lyte-Ly (pronounced 'go lightly' - those funny medical guys), we had to put in an NG tube through his nose... the same type of feeding tube he had over a year ago. Of course, since he was bigger and stronger than the last time he had such a tube in him, he fought that much harder getting it in.
He was also accessed around this time for labs and to start IV hydration, since he couldn't have anything by mouth by this point (around 3 PM local). The access went much easier than the feeding tube...mainly because he was used to it (at least as much as a kid can be used to a needle being poked in his chest).
The first attempt at the Go-Lyte-Ly didn't go well, with Alan throwing up a little bit. So, they slowed down the rate of feeding to about one 60 ml amount per 10-15 minutes. Doing a little math however, results in needing about 9 hours to get it all in him. Considering how late we started, it was doubtful that all of it could be in (and through) him before we ran out of time before surgery. The other options included stopping early because his bowel movements were clear (as in like water), or a suppository/enema.
The diapers were being changed as fast as he was getting Go-Lyte-Ly... we had literally filled up a considerable sized pail in no time. The, er, 'output' was clearing out, but never really reached the stage needed by the time midnight arrived. In addition, we had to slow down the rate he was getting the Go-Lyte-Ly because he was exhibiting the 'I'm about to puke' signs. The good news is that he was able to get some sleep near the end of this period between the intervals of feeding, having watched Ice Age, Monsters Inc, and Ultimate Pandas. He rested quietly during most of this period... we suspect he was worn out from the Go-Lyte-Ly and all the fighting he gave us when the NG tube was put in.
So at midnight, the suppository was done, and at about 1AM, the enema was done. Surprisingly, he actually fought very little during either of these treatments. We suspect because he was so tired, he was at the 'I don't care at this point' stage.
All of the treatments were pretty effective at getting stuff out of him... a couple of times during the diaper change he snuck a few drops out at high velocity (one getting as far as five feet!). Diaper changes were treated as seriously as a bomb on a short countdown...
Daddy and Alan finally got to sleep about 1:15AM, and pretty much passed out until the 5:45 AM wakeup to take Alan down to the pre-operation room.
Alan loved the escalators
Alan wanted to play Connect 4 like the big boys
A little friend joined Alan
Alan getting used to the Go-Lyte-ly
Mommy and Alan read the letters on his blanket
Alan with Mommy and Daddy
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