Grafting!!

Ethan is finally becoming himself and is starting to play with toys again. This new toy is definitely a favorite and keeps him busy for hours.

The IPad has been a lifesaver! Ethan loves to play the piano and Guitar on it!

Ethan and I right before the grafting. He was feeling pretty good!

Grandma Sue and Ethan. Today he kept trying to get her attention to give her things..he wouldn't give them to me!

Ethan and Hallie. Still best buddies!

Ethan and Ava. They were always holding hands when together!

Reunited at last! I love my family!!!

Ethan after all the grafts. He looks like a big snowman..or michelin man!

When Tim told me he was going back to school on Tuesday, I have to admit that I was pretty nervous to be on my own with Ethan. Not that I don't love him or anything but he is a lot of work for one person. He can get quite fussy lately as he is starting to get bored with just sitting around. Not only that but he is itchy all the time, and he is awake almost all night long, or at least every hour on the hour. So on Tuesday Tim headed home and Ethan and I battled it out!

Tim was gone no more that an hour and Ethan was spiking another fever! For fear of an infection they quickly put him on a high antibiotic which required them to turn off the pain drugs for stretches of one and a half hours, as they were not compatible with eachother. Then they drew blood twice, which if you know Ethan that is not fun. To top it all off they needed to get a urine sample as well. The nurses came in a little dissappointed and said, "We tried to tell the doctors to do something else but they said we have to do an in and out catheter." An in and out catheter is exactly how it sounds! With three of us holding Ethan down they inserted the catheter and waited for the pee to come....and waited....and waited! Nothing! We soon decided this was not going to work and pulled it out. Ethan was a fighter as always and screamed the entire time. It was fun!!! Oh and then they came in 10 minutes later and said that they were putting Ethan on isolation until they knew exactly why he had a fever. Great! Could it get any worse? Yes of course it can. Another two nurses came in and said because the urine sample didn't work we need to attach a urine bag to aquire a sterile sample. So we did and Ethan didn't like that very much but it worked. On the plus side of things, we were able to get the urine sample 2 minutes before he exploded in his diaper!!! He had been given PEG (a stool softener) for three straight days and it decided to kick in once Tim left. So the rest of the night I spent wide awake, changing about 20 stinky diapers, battling a little boy who kept pulling off his dressings and screaming cause he was itchy. It was a long night! The next day was similar, as we were constantly battling Ethan's itchiness, fever, and diapers but we were eventually able to settle him and gave him both itchiness drugs as Tim mentioned earlier. He also slept through the night snuggled up on my lap, so i was able to feel much more rested. Tims mom sue also came that day which gave me some nice breaks.
Well yesturday was the big day for grafting. I was pretty nervous all morning, not knowing exactly what to expect. I mean the doctors tell you in a matter of fact way what is going to happen, but to imagine that your child is going to have skin shaved off their thigh and placed on their arms and feet is a little upsetting! He had already been through so much pain, I couldn't imagine putting him through anymore. At 11:30am we were off to the OR for surgery and had to leave him with the surgical team of doctors, respiratory techs, and nurses. I knew he was in good hands and was reassured by our awesome nurse Lisa that she would watch out for him. Lisa didnt even work that day but came in especially for us as we wanted her in the room with him; we just love her!! I then spent the next three hours with mixed emotions, hoping all was going well with Ethan's surgery yet anxious to see my two beautiful girls I hadnt seen in several weeks, who were on their way up to Calgary.

I met with Doctor Harrop at 4pm while Ethan was in recovery and discussed how the surgery went. He said everything went well and according to plan. They removed the skin from his right thigh, the outside all the way around to the inner thigh, and placed it on both his arms and right foot. On his right arm they put one long piece over the crook of his arm. His left arm received one piece above his elbow and one below. He also grafted a small piece on his outer right foot along with his two small baby toes. They re-dressed his head according to plan and said that they could still see some signs of healing on the one side. Dr. Harrop felt pretty strongly that there would be a need for grafting on his right forehead to the back of his neck. Ethan did require some blood transfusions for the loss of blood over the past week but did really well otherwise. The plan now is to wait until Tuesday, when they might change his dressings and take a look at his head to see if there is any progress. If not they will graft as soon as possible.

The girls rushed into the room just as dr Harrop was finishing the news and listened in to the last bit. Then it was a great reunion. My girls looked so big and it felt wonderful to give them a big hug and see their sweet faces. Not even five minutes after seeing the girls they paged Tim and I to the recovery for Ethan. He was screaming his head off and they wanted our help to settle him down. They had given him several doses of morphine and they weren't sure if he was screaming in pain or if it was just a fit he was throwing. After ten minutes we all assumed it was just a fit, which was soon confirmed as he quit screaming as soon as they started wheeling him out of the recovery and back to his room. That's my boy!!!! Ethan was excited to see the girls and has really enjoyed their company! The girls are equally excited to see Ethan and have catered to him and have snuggled up with him in his crib. Sue, the girls and myself all stayed in the Ronald McDonald house last night and had a good sleep. Tim being very thoughtful stayed alone with Ethan to give me a break, and was awake until 3:30am with him fussing around. Poor guy! He then put Ethan in his bed and he fell asleep from then until 11 am. He obviously needed his sleep. The girls were lucky and got to spend the day in playgroups, doing crafts, playing with toys and spending time with other kids their age. They had a blast. They also got several free gifts from staff and were treated wonderful by everyone.

Ethan spent the day just enjoying his sisters entertainment and all in all it was a great day. Sorry this blog is so choppy, but it's been so nice to just be a family again. Thanks for all the prayers and please keep praying...we aren't done yet!