Hospital Food Critique

So, apart from where I gave birth to Bauer, (where they had a chef who made your food to order and the menu was fabulous... including a steak & lobster celebratory dinner the night before we went home!) I've never been fond of hospital food. But hospital drinks and ice ROCK! Why do they always have grape juice in hospitals? I love it! And the ice- pebble ice, sonic ice, whatever you want to call it-- must get me a machine like that! I hear they're pretty expensive :(

So why this random post? Well my friends- Brock and I have been hospital dwellers for the past 2 days. We just got home (thank goodness!) late last night. My bed never felt so good!

Brock is asthmatic and allergic to about 90% of all outdoor allergens. Trees, grass, pollens, weeds, bushes, AIR, you name it. Add a cold to the mix and it's a bad thing. Friday morning, Brock came into my room wheezing like a freight train. We immediately started a Xopenex breathing treatment... no improvement. Rescue inhaler, no improvement. Another Xoponex, no improvement. Coughing attack- barely able to inhale... time to get to the dr. Our Peds. office had just opened so we went right in w/ no appt. They took us right back (note to self... if you ever don't want to wait in the waiting room- threaten asthma attack), and started another treatment. His oxygenation wasn't too bad- but he was so wheezy and congested that Dr. G decided to give him a nice shot of Solumedrol (steroid) in the HINEY!! Brock just LOVED that! The nurses told Brock that he "took it like a man" and that last week when Dr. G got the same shot he "screamed like a little girl." Brock took note. Dr. G comes back in the room:

Dr. G- "Did that hurt Brock?"
Brock- "Yeah! but the nurses said I took it like a man." (between heavy breathing)
Dr. G- "I had to get that shot last week and it KILLED!"
Brock- "I heard. The nurses said you screamed like a little girl!"
Dr. G- "I did!"
Brock- "Yeah, I figured it's cuz you're a Cowboy Fan."
Dr. G- "OUCH! I think I can arrange to get another shot in here for that!"
Brock- "No thanks!"
**Brock & Dr. G have a love/hate relationship when it comes to Texas & the Cowboys. Dr. G is a born and bred Texan and LOVES the Cowboys. Brock would rather be in California!**

After the shot, Brock improved quite a bit. We were sent home w/ some prescriptions, an order to rest, and to call Dr. W (allergist/asthma doc) to let him know Brock was having trouble.

A few hours later, Brock had another attack and his stats were falling. Not good. We called into Dr. W's office and they told us to head to the emergency room. So, after dropping Barrett off at Rebecca's, Brock & Bauer and I were headed to the hospital. (side note: Bauer was on day 2 of a pneumonia diagnosis & meds for that!) (another MAJOR side note: Daddy Bill is out of town.)
We checked into the ER, got more breathing treatments, more steroids, two tries to get an IV in and- after 8 long hours, an admittance to a private hospital room w/ fuzzy cable and two very "comfy" hospital beds- hey, I was REALLY grateful for a bed for me! I know it could have been much worse!

Our other 3 kids were farmed out at friend's homes all over the place (thank you Emily, Katie, Heather, Rebecca & Kristan!) and Shelley came down to pick up Bauer and take him home for the night. (seriously, THANK YOU!!!) Brock got treatments every 2 hours round the clock, chest physical therapy, lots of drugs & IV fluids, some slammin' hospital meals, a personal game cube, borrowed from Child Life, and a cool nightgown. I got: Brock's leftovers (not much when you're on steroids!), 2 days of the same outfit, a breast pump (all the breastmilk had Brock's patient labels on them- I am sure the nurses were wondering why I was breastfeeding my 9 year old! LOL), and some WAY interrupted sleep.

However, I convinced them of my awesome abilities to administer drugs and breathing treatments and they sent us home late last night- boy were we grateful!! He's doing a little better- hoping he doesn't get a secondary pneumonia infection... and staying home for a few days. Needless to say, we are grateful it was a short stay! Love you Brock, and Love you Hospital Ice.