Tonight as we were getting Ethan settled for bed we noticed there was something going on as the nurses in the hall (the nurse desk is right outside the door) were trying to get some rooms ready for incoming patients. We asked the nurse (who was attending to Ethan at the time) what was going on, she said that the emergency room was really busy and that there were going to be some new patients coming up to the unit we are staying in. Thinking of the people in the emergency room made me reflect on the night we drove up to Calgary. It wasn't until then that I realized that Ethan's accident took place exactly one week this evening. I started thinking of all the ups and downs that have happened this week and thought I'd share a couple of them...
UPs
- An overwhelming sense of peace and calm from the time we gave Ethan a blessing in the Lethbridge Regional Hospital's emergency room until now.
- The overall response of EMS responders who got Ethan to the Hospitals in Lethbridge and Calgary
- Awesome Teams of doctors and nurses that have attended to Ethan's every need, he wouldn't be where he is without them.
- A large support group of family, friends, and strangers who have offered prayers and thoughts, meals and visits, and everything we needed this past week.
- A couple of good night sleeps.
- Burns on Ethan's face are healing with no visible scarring.
- Swelling of Ethan's head going down.
- Ethan being able to open his eyes.
- Ethan eating on his own.
- First smile.
- Hearing his voice as he communicates back to us
DOWNs
- Not being able to recognize our little boy as a result of all the swelling and and burns.
- Learning the extent of his burns from our plastic surgeon.
- Watching the pain in Ethan's face throughout the recovery.
- Britt and I staying up one night holding Ethan down for 10hrs straight (11pm-9am).
- Exhaustion and lack of sleep.
- Ethan hates blood work and so do we.
- Keeping Ethan from ripping his bandages off
- Having to deal with all the tubes and I.V.s hooked up to Ethan
Ethan's swelling has gone down a ton! His face is healing well and the doctors are very pleased with how he is progressing! I am so glad I can finally see those big blue eyes; and he can see me!
Ethan giving me snuggles after a long walk. He wouldn't let my hand go after that!
Ethan hates the bed and just wanted to snuggle so I climbed up onto the bed and he cuddled in and feel fast asleep...for 20 minutes!
Grandpa Bart reading a book to Ethan. It sure has been nice to have Bart and Sue around to help out. They are great company too!
Tim and I woke up early this morning, still feeling pretty tired while Ethan was wide awake and ready to go. He was talking to us and interacting quite a bit so I played peek-a-boo and he started to smile! Tim and I have been waiting to see tiny glimpses of Ethan and who he really is, so this was very exciting!
Ethan kept pointing to the door and crying today so we asked the nurses if we could take him for a walk. They found a stroller and helped us load him up and away we were. He absolutely loved it! He sat up and just checked out everything.
We took him downstairs to see the big fish tank and he loved it. He even sat up on his own and pointed to them while jabbering off about something!