Happy and Sad Faces

The urologist had a chalkboard in his room for Samuel to use while we waited.  Samuel drew a happy face.

And then a sad face!

Child Life part II

The Cincinnati Children's Hospital really does have an awesome child life department.  I cannot say this often enough.  We went through a similar test today that we had to do in Orlando.  It is a very uncomfortable test and when it was done in Orlando Samuel and I both cried.  I had to restrain him and try to get him to calm down while the nurses and radiologists did their jobs. 
Today I did have to restrain Samuel a little bit, but not for the the entire test.  The child life specialist had age appropriate toys to distract Samuel and after a few minutes he was talking, playing, and laughing all while the test was being done. 
I spoke with the child life specialist about the program.  This hospital does have a huge child life department.  Most hospitals don't have nearly the program that they have, and I am sure that most of it comes down to funding.  Even with the large department at this hospital, a specialist cannot see every child that could benefit so they have to prioritize.  The goal is to make the experience positive so that in the future the child will not be afraid.  It is such a great program in goal and in practice!

Waiting Rooms

This week has been full of appointments and with every appointment, a waiting room!  Samuel is usually pretty well behaved in waiting rooms, and Grandma has been a huge help in entertaining Samuel while waiting.  Today while waiting they colored pictures!

Pinched, Medical Update

Today at the x-ray appointment we found out that Samuel had to have his labs re-done.  Samuel has become a pro at doing the x-rays. He knows that they are quick and painless.  He also knows that labs are not fun.  Children's hospitals are usually great about getting it on the first stick and today was no exception.  Samuel squired and cried, but I think it was mainly the worry of the pain because it was so quick and Samuel settled down while it was being drawn.  While leaving the hospital Samuel asked, "Why did that man pinch me?"  Poor little guy. 
Tomorrow we have more tests that will not be pleasant and will involve Samuel being catheterized (they wanted to do one one lab today that would have also required Samuel to be catheterized and I suggested that they just do that when they cath him tomorrow and they all agreed that would be a good idea).  I am dreading the tests tomorrow because he will not receive any medication and I know from a similar test that this will actually be a bit painful for him.  I really don't like holding him down for things that hurt, but I also wouldn't want to not be there to comfort him. Samuel is such a trooper in going through all of the testing.  
He is doing well.  We have had to adjust the treatments slightly and the "recipe" that is currently being used seems to be working.  We will use the same one tomorrow morning, and then in the afternoon after the x-ray and tests we will meet with the doctors and hopefully receive positive news!

Cincinnati Zoo

After the appointments on Tuesday we went to the zoo.  This is another attraction that gives tickets to the hospital for the patients.  We had a wonderful time seeing the animals, seeing the Christmas lights, and watching the black light puppet show!

We said hello to Willey..he is so big that you can hardly see the elephant behind him!

Grandma helped Samuel feed the goats

Samuel got brave enough to feed the goats all by himself!

Brave enough that he even wanted to go inside and pet them!

Samuel even sat on Santa's lap!  He is very bundled up in this picture because it got colder as it got dark.  So he is wearing 2 pairs of pants, a long sleeved shirt, a hoodie, coat, and 3 hats!....so maybe I over bundled?

Staying warm with Grandma while we waited for the puppet show to start

Fireman

Sitting on the front of the fire engine

Driving the fire engine

Radioing Dispatch

A few months ago Samuel's class learned about fire safety.  They had a fire drill and Samuel came home and told me all about the loud alarm and what he needs to do if there is a fire.  Best of all, the fire department came and visited his class and they gave the kids fire hats.  Samuel LOVES his fire hat.  So when I visited the guest relations at the hospital here and saw that one of the attractions that we could attend while receiving treatment was the fire museum, I knew I had found something that Samuel would enjoy.  I had originally planned to go there on Monday, but they are closed on Monday so we went today.  Samuel had fun....it isn't exactly exciting stuff for a 3 year old because it is a lot of history and antique fire station artifacts, but they did have part of a fire truck that Samuel could play on and he loved it.

 

Monday in Pictures

We start our days every day this week by getting an xray and then call and leave a message for the nurse about how things are going.  So today after the xray we went to the Florence Y'all Mall.

Waiting in the waiting room for an xray

Playing on the river boat at the mall playground

 

Riding the dragon on the carousel at the mall

Riding Rudolph at the Mall

Riding a horse at the Mall

Shaking the tigers hand

Cincinnati Museum Center

Today we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center.  Several area attractions donate to tickets to hospital for the patients and families who are here from out of town.  Cincinnati Museum is one such attraction and we loved our time visiting the museum.  We spent our time in the Holiday train exhibit and also in the children's museum. 

Driving the fire car

Working at the construction site.  Samuel had just filled his wheelbarrow with rock and he was taking it to the rock pile.

Pounding nails

Sitting in a canoe

Driving the city bus

Dinosaur Lego table

Slide in the treehouse

Crawling to the treehouse slide

Rope bridge in the treehouse

Spiderweb

Jumping onto the spiderweb

Water area

Bug Tunnel

Christmas Train

Warning posted at the loading zone to the Christmas train.  I did read it to Samuel so that he would know the result of standing up on this train!

Trains!

Newport Aquarium

It is cold outside! So instead of going to the zoo we decided to go to the aquarium today and hope that it will warm up perhaps next week so that we can go to the zoo on an evening when it isn't quite so bitter. Here are some of our pictures of the aquarium. We had a wonderful time!

Waiting at the entrance

Playing the drums

PENGUINS!

With Scuba Santa's sleigh

Playing in the frog bog gym

Playing on the frog bog frogs

A Shark! 

This was after we left the aquarium and walked around the little mall.  These guys were at the theater!

Keeping Contact

Being away from Daddy is very hard for Samuel, but thanks to a wonderful co-worker who let us borrow her laptop and to Skype, we have been able to video chat with Daddy at least every evening!  Here is Samuel showing Daddy how to blow up the balloon....a skill that he learned at the doctor's office this afternoon!

Child Life

I love child life specialists in hospitals and Cincinnati has awesome professionals working in their child life and patient advocate departments.  They really care about the patients and the families.  While I attended the lecture this morning, Samuel got to go to the room with the children (he asked Grandma Shari if she would stay with him so she attended that room too!)  Samuel had a great time playing with the tools, and of course, Samuel, aka Mr Safety, wore the goggles while playing! 

The child life specialist also helped so much during Samuel's appointment.  Samuel was doing pretty well until the doctor needed to do the exam and Samuel would have none of that.  The nurse, two interns, and doctor along with myself tried to get Samuel to calm down.  One of the interns even showed Samuel his iPad with a cool game and nothing worked to get Samuel to let the doctor look at him.  Then the child life specialist entered the room and started blowing bubbles then asked Samuel if he would like to try to blow some bubbles.  That was all it took, Samuel settled down.  Popped bubbles that the child life specialist had blown then then blew bubbles back at us.  Technology is wonderful, but sometimes all that is needed is a caring person with a bottle of bubbles to make everything better!

MRI

Samuel had his MRI yesterday.  He was scheduled to go in at 11:30 for anesthesia and then the MRI was to start at 12:30.  He could have any solids after 3:30 AM and then wasn't allowed any liquid after 9:30 AM.  He was so hungry in the morning and was so sad when we couldn't let him eat.  Poor buddy did his best to still be cheerful, but having an empty stomach, being in a new place without Daddy, and having to go to the hospital makes it very hard.  Luckily Grandma is here with us!

When we got to the hospital they got us right back to a room, but there we were told that they were running behind.  We didn't end up going in for anesthesia until 1PM.  They had me hold Samuel as they gave him the gas to make him go to sleep.  That was very hard to do because Samuel didn't want that mask on his face.  So we cried together.  After he went to sleep (only a minute or so after the gas started) I placed him on the bed, gave him a kiss, and went to the waiting room....crying the whole time, of course. Two hours later they called us back into the recovery room.  The nurse was very good and called me back before Samuel opened his eyes so that he would see me when he woke and wouldn't be as nervous.  It went very well!  I love understanding and helpful medical providers!