First Day at Home is a Challenge

Natalie’s Day 6 At Home update: Our first full day at home from the hospital was tough due to nausea. Natalie got sick shortly after the 8AM dose of Oxcarbazepine, Dexamethasone and Motrin; and everything sort of went downhill from there. Anything that went into her came back up within 20 minutes so we couldn’t be sure what got into her system, and in the meantime the headaches came back and laid her out.  There were trips out to pick up the Lortab prescription as a backup to the OTC drugs (I had originally not intended to fill the prescription because we had so much trouble with nausea at the hospital), then for Ginger Ale, then for a new Tylenol that was easier to swallow/not expired.  A reminder about expired medication – you should plan to check your medicine cabinet at least annually to clear out old medications. We weren’t able to find any of the 325 mg tablets that we used previously, but were finally able to settle with the 500 mg tablets after a very friendly pharmacist at Harmons calculated the dosage and verified that her weight was sufficient for that dose.

We had to cancel a visit with some of Natalie’s school teachers because she wasn’t better in the afternoon. We pitched out the steroid because it has a side effect of nausea, and gave up on the Lortab because that wasn’t staying down either. The 2PM dose of Motrin stayed down, and the 5PM dose of Tylenol stayed down too.  The call into Dr. Bowers, the on-call neurosurgeon at PCMC didn’t get us any better advice than what we were already doing or planned to do.  She’s finally keeping liquids down with the pills so it looks like we won’t have to go back to the hospital to push fluids into her with an IV.  So, at 7:30PM the headaches are under control, she’s hungry but doesn’t want to eat, and has enough fluids that I think we’re okay.

The highlight was a visit from our neighbors the Dowden’s. They stopped in to say hello to Natalie and presented her with an incredibly cute pair of striped froggy footies that Natalie is wearing right now. They bought them thinking of the hospital, but they will be put to good use here too. Thank you Anita, Ron and Mary!