PICU at Loma Linda Children's Hospital.

It’s probably a good thing that I couldn't ride with Emily in the helicopter. I would have been a crazy/bored mess waiting at the hospital to come. Corky and I got there about 2 hours later and still couldn't see her for another 2 hours. As soon as she had arrived, they started doing a bunch of testing on her. An EEG test, a lumbar puncture, and a ct scan. She had to be sedated again in order for them to perform all those tests, not to mention that being intubated probably isn't all that comfortable.

When Corky and I arrived at the hospital and were finally directed to the Pediatric ICU, we were told to sit in the quiet room to wait for the doctor. We sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Eternity is not what a waiting parent wants when they don't know what is going on, especially in that quiet room where you only imagine the unimaginable. Finally, the doctor comes in and speaks to us. He first praised the Fort Irwin doctors for handling her so well and responding so quickly. (That was good to hear) Then he told us that her ct-scan came back perfectly normal...another HUGE relief. No growths, tumors, or bleeding on the brain to be concerned for. They were still waiting on the lumbar puncture to know if she had meningitis or any other type of infection. Until they knew for sure though, they began anti-biotic. The EEG would have to be analyzed by a neurologist before we knew anything more.

Finally we got to go into her room and see her. Talk about heart wrenching, seeing her with all those tubes and wires and then strapped down to her crib. I was so glad she was still sleeping.

She finally woke up a few hours later and DID NOT like that tube in her throat. The doctors saw that as a good sign and decided to remove the breathing tube. Once that tube was out and she was able to actually voice her dislike for it, she did. She felt so crummy from all the drugs that she didn't like much of anything at that point. For about 3 hours, Corky and I passed her back and forth to one another. She was fussy and very irritable. At about 2:30am, the nurse came in told Corky and I to take a break. She could see how exhausted we were. They gave her a small dose of medicine to help her relax and so when Corky and I returned, she was sound asleep. We all were able to rest for about 4 more hours, which we all were in dire need of.

The next morning, Emily was a lot more eager to be held and snuggled and she was allowed some apple juice. It had been more than 24 hours since she had had anything to eat or drink. She continued to be monitored for seizures for the next while but was finally released from the ICU that afternoon. I think the biggest relief for her was being able to leave her room. She was getting really stir crazy and just kept pointing to the outside.