Day 20

I left for one night and returned to find a much more playful boy. Sure looks like Josiah is feeling better. He regained the use of his right hand this evening.  I think that alone made him so happy.

It had been covered with a sock and taped closed since we arrived Thursday.  To keep him from ripping out his IV they needed a deterrent.  It worked, though believe me he tried many times to yank it out anyway.

We had to distract him or keep his IV arm covered with a blanket so he’d forget about it. For 3 days his right hand has been concealed, one finger stuck up under the sock, the rest curved around a piece of gauze.  I’m not sure who came up with that plan, but I’m guessing as he was thrashing about during the IV insertion, it seemed like a great idea.  Josiah began sucking on the sock finger 2 days ago.

Rick buzzed for a nurse to remove it this afternoon and replace it with a fresh, clean sock. Josiah was never so thrilled to get that thing off his hand.  We decided to forgo a new sock for a while and so far he’s not made any attempts to rip out the IV.  He’s so excited to be able to play with his beads again, something he had difficulty doing with his puppet hand.

Here’s more great news. Josiah actually ate lunch today, including some yogurt and a brownie. I think we are definitely making some progress here.  He’s still refusing all liquids, even when they dial down the IV fluids to encourage thirst.

While home, I whipped up a big batch of his favorite green juice and a delicious green smoothie. 4 large mason jars filled with vitamins and nutrients Josiah normally would guzzle. Not today though.

I also brought back lots of meatballs, dried mango, freeze dried apples, crackers, cheese and fresh fruit. These are some of Josiah’s favorites.  I’m hoping tomorrow he wakes with a voracious appetite and eats everything.  I’m hoping he continues to be playful and his energy level picks up. I’m hoping he starts drinking and they tell us he can go home soon.

We greatly appreciate all your prayers.  It appears they are working.  Please keep them coming. We don’t have any definitive answers about what is going on or why Josiah has lost so much weight.  It’s a s-l-o-w process getting answers.  Every time the Doctors stop in, we get the same information.  He has an elevated white blood cell count, which indicates infection, they just don’t know where. He needs to eat and drink consistently before they will release him.

So our trip to the hospital Thursday afternoon to hydrate Josiah has become not just a one night stay, as his pediatrician initially thought, but now a 3 night one.  The people here have been wonderful and are taking great care of our boy. They are patient with him and so kind. It’s been a few years since Josiah was last hospitalized.  When he was younger, it was such a regular occurrence we used to say, “Some families go to Disney World.  Our family goes to the hospital.”

You want to know the best part? No long lines.