I Hate the Hospital!

The smiles are few and far between but we caught one here. The headaches are gone but Ammon is still pretty sick. He has an external ventricular drain (EVD) in place right now and it will be here draining the ceberal spinal fluid (CSF) for the next three weeks.

I asked Ammon what he wanted to call this post and he gave me the title. It pretty much sums it all up. The diagnosis is still a bit of a mystery. When the neuorsurgeon pulled the shunt out, he found puss, indicating peritonitis. However, after the scan they did last night, the urologists aren't convinced there is a pocket of puss there. It had been planned to extract the puss this afternoon. The urologist, Dr. Cartwright, will be here soon to talk to me. The plan now is to wait until Thursday and then do another surgery when they open him up and look inside because they have some concerns about the augmentation and the bladder. The scan isn't definitive enough to give them any clear answer. Ammon is not happy about this nor am I. Dr. Cartwright is going to have to have some very good reasons why one more surgery is necessary. I will see what I can do to find another alternative.

I just met with a doctor with the infectious disease center and they will work with the group to manage the antibiotics to make sure they have the right kind for whatever they finally find. Ammon also has another UTI which doesn't help him feel great.

The Rainbow Kids came in this morning and they already have the wheels rolling. They have a music therapist coming in to see Ammon. She came in once this morning and had him almost laughing with her silly songs about how she hates the hospital. She let Ammon fill in the gaps with her funny song. The educator will also come in probably tomorrow to help with school issues, homework, etc. She could even call Ammon's teacher to see how to help him. The Child Life people will be coming in and they are going to have some peer volunteers come in as well to visit with him. Since Ammon is going to be here for a while, we decided it would be best to keep him as occupied as possible.

Right now he is full of doom and gloom. He told me that he thinks he is going to die when they intubate him again. I have spent most of the afternoon talking about pleasant things and encouraging him to fight this hoping he will find the will to not only survive but thrive.

I think visitors will be the key to keeping him happy and connected with the world.

The phone # that comes directly into his room is 801-662-2031. If you are asked to give a code to talk to him or us, the code # is 2495.