Gesundheit!

Amanda and I have been playing the "Sneezing Game" with Hazel for a couple of months now, where we fake a dramatic sneeze, varying the pauses in "ah... ah... ahh... choo!" -- she loves it, but used to sort of stare and wait through the "ah"s and then laugh at the "choo!". Today I noticed that she now finds the "choo!" a bit trite and "so November", but now she laughs hysterically at the "ah"s and stares at me during the "choo"s. A sign of increasing sophistication? Random chance?

Time and Hazel Both March On

I wanted to let everyone who has been following her story with such interest, kindness and generosity of spirit, that Hazel continues to make big strides. This is Jamie posting again, because Amanda is spending her first night at home since November 25th -- and (hopefully) her first full night of sleep there since November 17th -- the night Hazel caught a flu bug that she got over just in time to get ahold of the battery. I spent the last two nights at home, first for me since the 23rd, I think both of us could only go home now at all because the deafening silence there isn't permanent, and we will be bringing Hazel home in a few days. (Yes Hazel is recovering from this way faster than we are.)

Anyway, Hazel has been more and more like herself the last few days -- and then some (see below) -- she is off of her morphine now (only methadone and Ativan left to go), she pulled out her NG tube herself Monday night (which is ok because she's been drinking from a bottle just fine), and she ate her first solid (pureed) food this afternoon with Gusto. She has been charming everybody around here, nurses are coming by to take her around the floor with them all the time, and I half-suspect one or more is claiming her for their own :)

Something that I guess I should have expected, since this has been going on for over 6% of her young life (sorry can't help myself from constantly making calculations) but that still has taken me a little bit by surprise, is that Hazel has continued to grow and grow up even in the few weeks this has gone on -- she looks older, acts older, has hair that is getting curlier all the time (I think they're permanent -- her hair still has its curls even after we finally were able to wash her up), she's starting to understand words and what is going on around her, she is starting to get more "jokes" and is starting to display her first bit of empathy (offering up to one of us whatever she is enjoying chewing on) and she has a new gasp of surprise/delight/excitement that I want to see over and over again. I guess some of these changes were happening even while she was sedated and intubated, but it was hard to notice with all the tubes, sedation and swelling.

Although Hazel seems to really like all the medical personnel giving her attention (stranger anxiety? what stranger anxiety? we'll see if it persists beyond her Ativan regimen), I think she is starting to get impatient with the whole hospital thing, and I can't wait to take her home.

Look out World, because Hazel is back, and she's coming out strong!

Snoring

Jamie again, "guest blogging" for Amanda while she sleeps up in the parents sleeping dorm, hopefully soundly for the first time in two weeks. Hazel sounded pretty ragged for the first few hours after she came back from the OR, but they gave her a couple of nebulizer treatments -- which actually worked this time since she no longer had a battery in there -- and she settled down quite nicely. That is, except for the fact that she has already managed to pull out one of her brand new IV lines and her A-line -- without actually waking up. Oh well, they say it's not a big deal because they will be able to reduce the number of drips she is getting -- I see two fewer than yesterday, anyway. They also reduced her sedatives, so hopefully she will be up a little bit today. I am just sitting here staring at what without the whole respirator apparatus is starting to look like a very filthy and tired version of my baby.

Awake

This is Jamie, a very rare contributor to Hazel's blog but you'll see why I am writing in a minute. The OR was backed up so they didn't take her down until 6 o'clock -- but she just came back up breathing on her own, no breathing tube, and a new feeding tube, and crying a really raspy cry. I am writing because Amanda is in bed cuddling with a very fussy (and now sleeping) Hazel. 

She is not out of the woods yet, and she is going to have a long road before she is as good as new, but this will be a really big step for her if she manages to keep from getting reintubated tonight! It is such a relief to be able to hold her in my arms again -- I held her pretty much the entire day Wednesday before her surgery, then they took her away and I have barely been able to touch her since. 

Thank you to everyone all over the country and world who have been sending us prayers and positive thoughts -- this isn't exactly a controlled experiment and correlation isn't the same thing as causation, but her improvements are highly correlated with all of her wellwishers. We are grateful for your continued support as Hazel gets ready to take on her next step in this ordeal (not even sure what that is yet, I've been so focused on getting her breathing on her own.)

What a beautiful, shrimpy little cry I am hearing.