A much better day (except for the hand, foot and mouth disease)

Today has been 500% better for my mom. Early this afternoon she was moved to the oncology floor, which has much nicer rooms and a more peaceful atmosphere.

The nurses are also able to be more focused, resulting in significantly better care for the patients.

One huge praise is that mom is now on a regulated morphine drip - she gets a small amount on a regular basis, but can increase it (up to a certain limit) as she needs to.

Another praise is that she has been able to do her breathing exercises more frequently. While she still has a ways to go before she gets to a normal level, she is currently at a level that they consider acceptable for her stage of recovery.

Going to the hospital tonight was a completely different experience - I could immediately see that she was better rested.

I met one of her doctors (she has three), and he was incredibly nice and had a wonderful bedside manner. My sisters mentioned that the other two doctors are just as nice. The three of them have a great reputation and my mom was told by one of the nurses that she has "the big guns" working on her side.

While I was at the hospital my mom was able to get out of bed (with the help of two nurses) and move to a chair, where she sat for a half hour. It was encouraging to see her making this kind of progress.

And now we move on to the frustrating part of the day...

At 9:30a.m. I got a call from Kaitlyn's sitter saying that she was once again running a temp.

**sigh**

I picked her up and took her to see the doctor, who informed me (very casually) that Kaitlyn has hand, foot and mouth disease.

Or is it foot, hand and mouth disease? Or mouth, hand and foot disease?

Whatever.

Anyway, I heard this and thought, excuse me? WHAT does my child have? Is it chronic? Will she be foaming at the mouth soon? Is this related to leprosy? Isn't this one of those things that she might have gotten from chickens or cows or some other form of livestock???

(My overactive imagination was working overtime.)

After quieting the many voices and questions in my head, what I actually said to the doctor was, "Um, what did you say she has?"

I found out that this is a fairly common thing for kids to get, and is a virus that simply must run its course. It got its name because blister-type sores can show up on the hands, feet, and in the mouth.

Kaitlyn doesn't have any sores on her hands or feet, but she does have one big sore on her tongue. :-( No wonder she doesn't want to eat anything!

The doctor said to treat it with Benadryl and Advil/Tylenol, and it should go away in a few days.

By the way, another fun happening today (said with just a hint of sarcasm) is that I tried to give Kaitlyn some Bendaryl and when I pointed the syringe in her mouth and squirted some in, it squirted right back out and sprayed my entire shirt.

Nice.

(I think I'm done whining.)

Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, both for Kaitlyn and for my mom. Thanks to everyone who has been praying!!