Break it gently

Hello Ava followers. So yesterday the surgeon came in early and (by God's hand) Ava was sleeping. They said that she might have the tube in longer than we thought. (However we know that doctors don't know what God knows.) They want to place a more central IV in her arm. Peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) They need her to get more nutrition. She has had the same IV since Sunday when we were admitted. That is a HUGE blessing from God right there. Usually IV's only last for a few days. She got 4 plus days out of this one. So since Ava was sleeping she did not hear any of their "news". My thoughts were racing as I didn't know how to wrap my brain around how Ava was going to take this news. So basically what my brain heard was... she isn't improving as quickly as we thought so she may have the NG tube longer that what we planned therefore we are going to get a good IV line established because we want her to get feed. See so my heart was so sad for her. So Brian and I went outside Ava's room and discussed what we had just heard. We agreed that Ava had made a ton of mental progress yesterday. If she knew this news she would be devastated. So we told Ava's nurse. Maja we wanted to keep this from Ava and break it to her gently on our own terms. We told the team that they could come in Ava's room and examine her but that we wanted to talk about the details in the hall with them. They respected our decision as they also knew Ava was having a VERY hard time dealing with the NG tube. I'm so thankful they work with us.

So this morning the doctor came by (pulled me out into the hall) and said that today was the day they wanted to place the PICC line. Okay my heart was preparing how to tell Ava. I prayed that God would help walk us through this. Brian and I went to the parking garage and talked about the details. We are sad that she has to keep the NG tube until this obstruction is gone or until they figure out exactly what is going on (twisted, rotated or scar tissue related) with her small bowel.

So here is how it went down. I prayed God please give us the words to comfort her and not scare her into thinking this would never end. It is going to end! We went back to Ava's room and explained that she had a small IV and they were having to hang two bags at a time plus extra bags for her nutrition and the doctors thought that she needed a different plan for her nutritional needs so a bigger IV line was the next step. We also explained that we honestly did not know how long she was going to have to have the ng but that if we could do this step it may get us out of the hospital sooner. She seemed to lighten her mood. (I know that we did this at home before and we can do it again if need be!) I'm praying it will resolve in a few days but in the meantime God will get us through.

They had to do another Covid-19 test before they place the central line. (Ava took it like a champ.) This was her 4th Covid test. She just got an chest xray and her PICC line procedure is at 2:00 but then they said they were going to do it tomorrow. Yea... oh that's okay. We will wait.

The afternoon went so great! The doctor came in and told Ava she could have a Popsicle We walked the unit 7 times! The more she moves the more likely things will return with decompressing the intestines and IV nutrition.

Walking the Halls... 7 times today!

She was also allowed to suck on candy. She had 3 pieces of Werther's caramel hard candy. No nausea at all. She didn't gag or spit at all today. Her fluid output from her NG tube was less. She looks so good today. We got our happy Ava back. I missed her. It's so hard to be yourself when you hurt. Her smile just warms my heart. We played some games. Oh if you are wondering what is on Ava's arm it is a soft cast to stabilize her IV line. If she doesn't keep her arm straight the IV will not work. We are so grateful that IV has latsted since last Sunday night in the Emergency room.

My cousin Joy, bless her heart asked if she could drop something off for us. Ava had gotten out of her bed and came to the couch. I went to go met my cousin. She had just gotten out of the hospital. She totally understood the "hospital/Covid life"/ Yay I'm not alone! It was so nice to chat with her. We did get in a bit of trouble because apparently you aren't supposed to chat in a high traffic drop off area. Who knew?! I walked back to the room and Ava opened the bag, It was stashed full of goodies. Books, journals, pens, a game, make up, nails and all kinds of fun things for us to do. Ava began giving me a make over. She was so excited that we all totally forgot to hook her back up to suction. Brian asks, "Ava are you nauseous?" "Nope I'm just fine.... 40 whole minutes without her stomach being suctioned out and she wasn't sick. What?? I love this little lady so much! See her beautiful smile! I'm so grateful she is smiling again!

A few hours later after a walk she says... (she's going to kill me for posting this) "I've got to poop." AND she did! In obstruction world a solid poo is CELEBRATION and picture time... yea really. Nurses were so excited. It wasn't a ton but it was a good start. I'm thrilled to have Ava's full personality back. Her and I played Emoji Uno. She won three times and I won twice. Can you say quality family time? Yes that is us right now.

We had such a good day. So much progress. Thanks for your prayers. I can't tell you the number of people that are lifting Ava up to God... we are truly blessed with such awesome and amazing prayer warriors. As my Dad says, "God knows our need! Faith is the Victory. We have all the faith He needs to make it happen." I love that my dad texts me things like this. Thank you dad!! God bless you.

-Terri