Walking

As my title states, C tried walking today. It ended up being more of a shuffle though. The PT got him to the edge of the bed and helped him down and then proceeded to support him. C was crying through the whole ordeal, but she still made him put his full weight on his legs. He said 'I'm to heavy', which made me laugh because he has put on some weight! (besides the fact that his muscles have atrophied) C then sat in my recliner all day. I thought that was kinda cool, it gave him a change of scenery so to say. He also had to have a test done today that measures his caloric intake. This involves him putting a clear dome on his head, oxygen gets sucked through the top vent, then he releases carbon dioxide through a hose in the bottom. He had to wear it for about 20 minutes. Of course he wanted to throw a major fit but when I saw the dome I told C that it looks like Buzz Lightyears helmet and then he didnt say to much. Later this afternoon our nurse comes in with a big Buzz Lightyear toy for C. Where does she find these things!!! C is getting so spoiled. She also brought him another linus blanket since he threw up on his last one. I'm afraid I will have a child who wont do anything unless its for a prize after we go home!

C also had some visitors today. Tank and Roxie came to see him. Tank is a black lab/rottweiler mix, and Roxie is a basset hound that gets way to many treats. They are members of the Doggie Brigade that come to visit sick kids here at Akron childrens. We had 1 other dog stop in, but out of the 3 I think Tank is C's favorite. He was bigger and did the most tricks.

C is goin to be fitted here in the near future for his 'gloves' that go with his job suit (job pronounced like the book in the Bible). The suit is made of a spandexy material that is tight and helps smooth out the skin among other things. When C is done with surgeries he will have several pieces that make up this suit. There will be a shirt, pants, a faceless mask, and sleeves. It needs to cover the area that C has had grafted. He will have to wear it 23 hours out of the day right at first. After that I'm not sure. Burn victims healing can take as long as 18 months. Pray that I will be disciplined enough to make him wear this outfit!

C is scheduled for surgery on thurs afternoon to replace some of the cadaver skin thats not looking good anymore. Doc wants to see if he can harvest donor skin from C to graft and what he cant get will have to wait until next week. Please pray that he will be able to get some grafting done, so we only have 1 surgery left! Thank you.

The burn center has been asked to compile photo documentation of the different services that are provided on this floor. (PT, OT, Respitory, ect) Our nurse who is in charge of this decided to make C the 'feature' patient. She asked me first if it would be ok, and I was a little hesitant. I told her to pick the old grandpa next door but she said he just sleeps! :) She figured we would be pretty open about it and people love little kids, not to mention this is a kids hospital (except the burn center, they take patients of any age). They have a project going on thats titled "Cans for Kids". People donate aluminum cans and the proceeds help burn victims go to camp. They also take the tabs on top separatly.

All in all C had a good day! Praise the Lord! His meds are working great that we changed last nite and he slept from about 11 last evening till 4 am. I asked the nurse if he slept all that time and she said yes! We woke up at 8:45 this morning, both feeling a lot better than the day before. Thank you all for your continued prayers. We really, truly appreciate them so much!
Amy