So much to say, so little time

The hits are jumping skyward so clearly people are jumping over from Facebook, expecting updates on Julianna.

Well, the vaporizer failed us at last, and Julianna went to the hospital tonight. We managed to keep her home for almost 10 days, so that’s something. I was putting her seat in Christian’s truck tonight when I saw our neighbor, a respiratory therapist-turned-administrator, decked out in tank top & fatigues & knee-high combat boots (yes, it is that warm on November the 6th). I yelled for him to bring his stethescope over and take a listen. We must have looked a sight, out there on the sidewalk between our houses: the unlikely medical tech, the snazzy suit-and-tie daddy holding a baby in a cute turtleneck and no pants, and slobby Mommy in her sweats and T shirt.

Anyway, the point is, they went to the ER. The boys and I packed up dinner and overnight stuff for Daddy & Julianna and drove down to the hospital at 7:15. I had to wake Alex & Nicholas both up when we got there, and Alex was all a-flutter to go see the helicopter that flies over our house 10x a day. (Boys.) So we headed for the ER, and I said, “This way, Alex,” as we passed the east elevators. “We’re going to a different place than usual.” And I had to shake my head as the words processed: that we actually have a “usual” destination in the hospital!!!! AAACK!!!!

The woman who brought us back into the ER said, “What’s the patient’s name?” She looked it up and then said, “Oh! I remember her.”

As we turned the corner I heard her screams echoing around the ER, and I thougth, I’ll just bet you do remember her.

She was already on her second IV, and that one blew sometime shortly after we arrived…but they’d already given her steroids and clearly that helped, because she had WAY more energy for venting her unhappiness with the world than she had at 4:00 when I called Christian to come home.

However, Town House crackers and Colby cheese cheered her up considerably, as did the Gymboree play book that she can sit and look at for hours on end.

She’s improved enough already that we hope she’ll be home tomorrow, but there are no guarantees, so all prayers are appreciated. Especially since her big brother won’t pray for her to get well and come home. “I like Julianna in the hospital!” he said. “I like going to the hospital every day!”

Oh, Alex. You can still render me speechless.