Greetings from Camp Wanna-Be-A-Doc!

I’ve had a running joke with the team here that I’m one day hoping to earn a “Junior Doctor” patch.  Well, it looks like that’s coming true as Rudy’s room has become kind of like camp.  There is a number of things we need to demonstrate competency at before Rudy can go home and, consistent with her temperament, Trish has asked for a list to be compiled which is now posted on the closet door.  This weekend Nurse Lindsey is walking us through the day and every time we successfully perform something she notes it on the chart.  Sometimes she quizzes us and we even get to practice some things on a very creepy looking doll before we move to Rudy.  So far, I’ve received merit badges for trach tie changing, trach suctioning, dispensing meds through the G-tube, G-tube cleaning and securing the pediatrician.  Tomorrow morning, I’ll hopefully earn my CPR badge–leave it to me to make this a competition, but I guess I’ve always been motivated by sticker charts.

Since I mentioned her, I just need to say that Nurse Lindsey is the GREATEST NURSE IN THE WORLD!  Yeah, she’s highly trained and very skilled at providing acute care for patients who need it.  Really grateful for that, but she wins this approbation for stopping at Starbucks on her way in this morning to bring me some coffee.  Instead of needing to stumble down into Westwood myself, I got to start my day lounging around in my PJs with Rudy here in the room.  Florence Nightingale never did that!

While there’s all this activity to keep me occupied and entertained, Rudy’s impressing us all with the great strides he’s making.  We turned off the feeds for an hour twice yesterday and let him try to take the 30cc by bottle–success!  Today the team decided to try to compress the feeds to move from constant drips to “bolus” feeds–where it all comes in one shorter burst (as it would in a meal).  We were going to proceed incrementally by spreading 90cc over two hours and then to one and try a bit by bottle every now and again, but on the first feed this morning we put 45cc in a bottle which Rudy devoured.  So, we filled another bottle and he pretty much gave his vote with regard to proceeding incrementally.  It was no fluke–he’s done it twice more, so the order was re-written for Rudy to make the call–he can feed 90cc by bottle every 3 hours, but if he’s sleeping or just doesn’t seem to feel like it, we can put the balance in the G tube.  He would appear to have his father’s feeding habits.

On the down side, I’ve re-discovered what I had forgotten over the last six years:  all that food going in has to come out in some form and a diaper’s seal far from impenetrable.  Full breast-milk feeds have resulted in technicolor emissions that register in multiple dimensions.  His brothers will marvel at the sounds and I regret that I only brought one pair of pants with me…

It is a very happy adjustment to be thinking concretely about bringing Rudy home.  There’s some open speculation as to what our time frame is at this point, but I suspect we’ll gain some clarity on this on Monday when the new attending comes on.  I’ve been reflecting on the post I wrote awhile back on the Stockdale Paradox and how our thinking has undergone a shift.  Back in January, we had to hold forth that we would prevail over this circumstance without any real idea of how this would come about.  I’m certain I didn’t think we’d be headed into April, but here we are.  There were twists and turns enough to turn unrealistic hope into insanity, but here we are.  Given that we’ve been here six months, we’re not up in arms if it extends a few weeks more.  It’s just such an encouragement to be viewing things through a new lens.

I’m looking forward to a quiet night here with Rudy and hope he rests well for tomorrow when Trish and the kids will be coming for a visit.  It’s actually been almost two months since we’ve all been here together.  Word has gotten out among the staff that the floorshow will be here in full force tomorrow–can’t wait.  These poor ICU people–who will entertain them when we leave?

PS–speaking of fun, Livy made another appearance on the web as Greg Lawler shared everyone’s intrigue about how her trademark “green tooth” dangled precariously without falling out for so long.  Good news everyone–it finally “fell” out (with a little help from Daddy during a wrestling session).