Day 6 on 7 East

Our sixth day here has us more informed and entertained. This is good for both of us. We paid for this in sleep and sanity though. Sam woke today with a bloody nose (unrelated to our stay here) at 6am. Short night.

I'm pretty tired, so I'll tell today's story with pictures. Easier that way. But first, the medical:

The culture's preliminary results are pretty tame. The antibiotic he's taking should cover what he's "growing" in it. The doctor though emphasized that staying here as long as possible will make him healthier in the long run, although we could do his treatments at home. Our choice. So, I'm hoping we can stick it out here to keep him the healthiest. It all depends on the sanity of Sam, Kathy, me, and the insanity of our insurance HMO. ...bastards. 

So, anyways, after cleaning up our blood and before our 8am therapy treatments, we went to breakfast. In a wagon. Sam must be buckled in before we go. 

When we got back, a package was waiting for us! My Aunt Beverly and Uncle Darrell sent him a stuffed dog named Marco, and an MnM tin. He loves the dog. "Ruf ruf!" (both of these - dogs and packages - will come back in this post.)

After our treatment and meds, we went upstairs to the garden and got some vitamin D rays from Mr. Sun. I feel like we soak it up like sponges. 

Sam took my phone and snapped these pics of the flowers in the garden.

And... when we got back, another package (ding ding!). This time it was from Grandma and Aunt Debbie. These are harder to describe, but still fun. A spinning-light-candy-holder; a Super-Mario-candy-holder-tin; and Mater-Teeth-ring-pop. He fell asleep tonight playing with the first thing. I won't try to re-type that.

Our new game we learned today was Bingo. Apparently gambling is legal here at STLCH. They play it in the playroom, and via closed circuit television, broadcast it through the hospital to those who can't attend (which is most). When they get a Bingo (they allow 10 per game... lots of winners) they can call a phone number to read their bingo on-air, and select a toy prize. The toy is then delivered to their room. I thought it was fun, and Sam was fascinated with the TV camera and equipment. I think he got on-air for a cameo at one point. And, we WON!

He won a FunHop. He was super tired, and got sad when I told him we couldn't blow it up with air (it requires a pump or air compressor) so he traded it in for another toy. (If anyone wants to get him one for the house... you're on notice. It would be nice. He was bummed... but nothing I could say would change his mind.)

The Best Nana Ever came by to check out some Bingo and play with sam in the playroom. I escaped unawares. Nana let me go take a Sambreak at the Starbux around the street. (Searby, wuddup!) It was right across the street from St. Louis College of Pharmacy, which is on the Wash U school of medicine campus with the rest of everything here. I had to include a shout-out - both my folks' alma mater. 

THIS LATTE WAS AWESOME, for about 30 minutes. 

Sam fell asleep during his therapy at 4pm, clutching a Ni Hao Kai Lan Leapster Explorer game box.

(This is the yellow airplane that takes off most hours, and the clock tower, in the cafeteria.)

and... sam gazing at it... eating his french fries and bacon. (yes, that's a meal.)

After dinner with Nana, we went to the garden to play. We ran into this awesome group of volunteers who were making crafts for no apparent reason. Sam made a bee named Apple. (read that twice if you have to.) Its made out of pipe cleaners and googly eyes. A glue stick was involved.

He also colored a paper plate and made a spiral wind-thingy you hang in a tree.

Gotta stick yer toes in the fountain every once in a while, right?

And, ya gotta stand it in too, right....?

On our way downstairs for our 8pm vest, we ran into these nice doggies (ding ding!) in the playroom. One was huge, one was small-ish. Sam liked the small-ish one.

To sum up, it's becoming more like CF-health-camp. Crafts, packages, doggies, bacon, yellow airplanes. Just no bonfires or trust-falls. He is improving quite a bit lately. His cough is going away, and his lungs are clearing up. (I'm learning how to use the stethoscope to hear how lungs sound...) So we're doing fine, just missing home and stuff. We appreciate all the well-wishes! It's helpful for him to hear that stuff. Just wanted to let ya'll know we're doing ok, and just putting in our time. More time in here is an investment in more-better time on the outside. (yes, more-better is a word. but i misspelled it - it should be mo'better.)

We're making the best of our time here. It's growing old, but we know it's for the best. And, we're working on getting our Sunset Badge.