Feeding Clinic- Week 5

Originally published 1/18/13

I think that it is fair to say that, without a doubt, this week’s theme has been Stress Management!  And in truth it has come in a lot of unexpected and very fun ways.  

Enter stress reliever(s) #1:  The therapy dog parade!  Every week lots of therapy dogs come to visit the inpatients.  This week their arrival took place in the form of a GIANT therapy dog parade.  There was probably about a dozen therapy dogs here to visit the patients.  It just so happened that the boys were headed down the hall to take a bath when the dogs arrived.  As soon as the dogs began exiting the elevators Zac went running to to check them all out.  He was especially fond of the labradoodle(?)  I’m not sure if that’s the exact name of the breed...but it was adorable all the same!

 

It’s really hard to tell in these pictures but the hallway was full of furry friends.  Zac loved petting them and of course trying to get them to chase him.  

Dom was a bit more unsure.  I think he was worried that they might bark!  But all in all it made for a great evening of fun for the boys.

After we were done visiting with the dogs we entered phase two (and possibly the boys favorite phase!) of our stress management protocol: BATH TIME!  We don’t have a tub/shower in our room...which is a bit of a bummer.  In fact, there are no rooms on our floor with their own shower/tub.  The “Tub Room” is down the hall from our bedroom.  It is without a doubt the boys favorite part of the day.  They know which nurses come to help with baths, and they hunt them down in the afternoon like a fox!  As soon as they see them they shout “BATH! BATH!”  as if they nurses never knew that Dom and Zac like to bathe.  It is a bit hilarious...but not as funny as when the nurses see the boys in the tub for the first time.

It’s safe to say that Dom and Zac LOVE water.  They love swimming and have actually become really good floaters (probably because they spend all summer in Nana & Papa’s pool!)  Anyway, the Tub room has two bathtubs...one is a typical tub you would find in most bathrooms.  The other is a special, extra-large bathtub that raises, lowers, and has jets!  It’s pretty cool...and for Dom and Zac it is big and deep enough to let them swim and dive in the water for a bit.  Of course, when they put Zac in that tub for the first time the first thing he did was dive down.  (I had never thought to mention that they know how to swim.)  The nurse had just turned around for the soap when this happened and by the time he turned back around Zac was beneath the water covered by a surface of bubbles (We love bubble baths!)  I was tending to Dominic in the other tub and turned around when I heard the nurse GASP! and then proceed to almost jump into the tub to “rescue” Zac!  I quickly regained my senses and shouted “He can swim!” Then I nearly died laughing...which thankfully the nurse did too.  I’d love to say that was the only time that has occurred...but it happened again yesterday.  The boys are definitely keeping everyone on their toes!

Perhaps the biggest stress reducer has been due in large part to the fact that we have been staying on the Rehabilitation/Feeding floor of the hospital.  The children staying around us are recovering from illness or injury.  To put it in perspective, about half of the children on our floor have died and been brought back.  Most of which were hit by a vehicle when riding their bikes/ walking in the street.  The other half are recovering from a serious viral illness that comes upon them quickly are leaves them paralyzed.  It really helps put in perspective what’s important in life, and how truly lucky we are to be here solely for the Feeding Clinic.  Ironically, when I speak to most of the other parents here they say the same thing about their situation.  Their child is recovering....the future is a bit unknown, but everyone is staying optimistic and hoping for the best for everyone.  When one person’s child takes their first steps since the accident...everyone on the floor celebrates.  There is a real family atmosphere here, which is really nice since we are far from home.  But thankfully far away does not equal forgotten.  

This week Dom and Zac were over the moon excited to receive some unexpected mail!  

Dom was esctatic to get some cards from his classmates, which he then proceeded to take to show all the nurses (Oh...our poor nurses!)  They also got an awesome book of our family camping vacation.  It was full of all their favorite camping memories (Thank you John and Lorie!)  They love looking through it and talking about home.  I think with all the fun distractions this week their homesickness is behind them.  And there are exciting opportunities ahead.  

On Friday I started feeding the boys again....oh boy!  There are stories to be told about that for another day!  But what I am the most excited about is that last week they began weaning Dom off some of his medications.  One of them suppresses the effects of allergic reactions.  They are weaning him off of it slowly because they are going to try to give him eggs again.  If he doesn’t have a significant reaction we should be able to add that food back to his diet.  I am really hoping that it goes well.  Adding eggs will give him the protein that he needs that will be much easier for him to chew.  He’s still having some difficulty with proteins.  So my fingers are crossed that soon he is eating scrambled eggs for breakfast!  Otherwise, all is well.  The boys are happy again...and we have a fun trip planned to the aquarium this weekend.  Life is good.