hospital: day 3

Thanks to Siri, I navigated myself through Salt Lake for the first time today. Owen and I decided to go visit Drew. He had to wear a mask because of the sores on his face, so I'm sure plenty of people we passed thought he was the patient.

Rainbow pony in front of the hospital.

My mom told owen about the Superman and Spiderman at the hospital. He demanded a picture. This is what we got.

When we got to the hospital, Owen needed to have pictures of his own.

Drew was awake for a little longer today, but he's still not ready to come home. We didn't quite get the news we hoped for. Drew has infection in his ear and in the bone behind it. He also has sores on his head, mostly in his hair. Dermatologists made a visit and they're not sure what it is. They're running some tests, but they're pretty sure it's a virus. Antivirals have been added to his doses of antibacterials, so hopefully we'll see some improvement. It is likely the sores are either Herpatic or Chicken Pox. Depending on the test results, he may be in the hospital for another week. We are hosting Thanksgiving this year, so hopefully we can get him home and feeling better by then. 

I started feeling sick, so my grandma and grandpa picked up the other kiddos and let them spend the night at their house. 

One of Drew's sores had to be broken in order to get a swab for a test. Afterwords, the nurse came in with a mask and full body gown. She told us the dermatologists had been talking in the hall and decided that whatever Drew has is likely contagious and, because the sore was broken, was now airborne, and we had all been exposed. We were moved into a Bubble Boy room with it's own air system. An alarm went off every time the door was opened. This silly ear infection he had last week has become a big deal. Drew has zero energy. He has a Playstation in his room, but he hasn't even touched it. He pretty much sleeps all day. We finally got him to eat today. 

mask & full-body gown.

This giraffe was the source of the only smile we've seen from Drew. Owen wasn't ready to give him up, but Drew loves him. He has a whole giraffe collection. My mom thinks his name should be Gus, to rhyme with all the pus draining out of his ear.

The only improvement we've seen is the reduction of pressure in his ear from getting tubes. Hopefully the antivirals will start to help. 

hospital: day 2

Drew had tubes put in his ear today, so hopefully he will start getting better. He might be able to come home tomorrow, if he doesn't need an IV anymore. Owen is still home-bound, due to the sores on his face, and he is really missing his friends. I worked hard to keep him entertained, but throughout the day, I kept noticing his fascination with getting taller. He stood against the wall and measured himself no less than 15 times today. So I decided to ask him about it.

Me: Owen, why are you measuring yourself. Owen: To see if I got taller. Me: Why do you want to be taller? Owen: I want to be bigger than all my friends. Me: Why's that? Owen: I just want to get taller, so I can be a grown up so I can unlock dad's iPad because his has a password.

I tried getting kids to help clean once they got home from school, but we didn't have much success. Ainsley was beside herself because I was a meannie who made her clean and she just wanted Jessica (my roommate) because she would be nice to her and let her do her hair and not make her clean anything.

Owen has really been into rhyming for a while. He is particularly fond of the letter D. Examples:  Ains-a-Dains, Fin-a-Din, Kens-a-Dens, Sam-a-Dam, Owen-Dowen, Mom-a-Dom. But he runs into trouble once he gets to Drew or Dad.

the one where I got a bad text

You can tell you're going to have a bad day if you wake up to a text that reads "call me when you get this" from your mom. It was early, before I was fully functional, but my inquisitive mind pushed me to call her back. No answer. So I called my dad. No answer. At this point, my need for extra sleep overtook my curiosity. I woke to Sam calling me on my dad's phone. My mom and dad had taken Drew to Primary Children's in the middle of the night because his ear got worse. My mom called me back, explaining that the machines in the hospital cause poor reception. She asked if there was any way I could come home and I told her I had already taken care of what I needed to so I could come. My Thanksgiving Break started a couple of days early. Owen has sores on his face (we think it's Hand Foot Mouth) so he was sad that he couldn't go anywhere. We had fun painting with the girls once they got home from school. Owen: Kensie, pretend you don't know your left. Me: Okay, why? Owen: *holds up fingers in L shape* Which one is the L? Me: *points to left fingers* Owen: Good job! You're correct! And now you know which one's left. *shrugs/smirks* That's just a little trick I made up.

the one where I learned my lesson

Let's say you are feeling a little under-the-weather. Let's say you went to the grocery store and bought 3 items: cold medicine, cough drops, and Vick's Vapo-rub. And let's say that you sniffle probably close to 50 million bajillion times while checking out. Let's say that you look like you haven't slept for a week. And for fun, let's say that the cashier insightfully asks you, "Are you sick?" Let's say your brain is a little cloudy from The Cold From Hell, and you can think of no brighter response than, "Ya," before taking your 3 items and leaving the store. Let's say that, a couple of hours after taking cold medicine, you are feeling slightly human again. And you are getting ready for bed. Even if you are feeling slightly better, even if you think the medicine is working, if you feel even a tiny tickle in your nose, DO NOT PROCEED TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH. If you do, that tiny tickle in your nose will likely grow. And you will get a look of terror. Because there is nothing you can do. Because your mouth is full of foamy toothpaste. You will fight back that sneeze with all the force your sick body can muster. But you will fail, because cold medicine never works completely, and you will suddenly find yourself in a bathroom full of foamy toothpaste. And cleaning it all up will not be awesome. Lesson learned.

I sense prescriptions in the near future

We in the Smith household live by the phrase "go big or go home." We don't get sick super often, but we like to make a show of it. Drew had an ear infection last week and now his eardrum has burst. Instead of feeling better, as is usually the case, he is still in pain and his ear is dripping. He went to an ENT and had a nasty amount of fluid suctioned. He got a really bad bloody nose, so he had to have his nose cauterized. Everyone has been feeling kind of icky and missed at least one day of school last week. I fear that this is the beginning of the "Smith Sick Show: Winter Edition."

you won't want to miss this.

My brother, Sam, is allergic to all nuts and peanuts. Before he and I went on trek this summer, we searched for a good alternative to peanut butter, since that was on the menu every day. We discovered Biscoff Spread. Yes, Biscoff like the cookies you get on airplanes. Smushed into a creamy, peanut butter texture. (It also comes in crunchy form, which is even better.) We've been buying it ever since. It's been really nice to have a peanut butter substitute for making home lunches and such. When I was little, I had to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day. When we found out Sam was allergic, my mom gave my neighbor a jar of peanut butter and a toothbrush for me. I went there in the afternoon to eat my sandwich and brush my teeth before I came home. Eventually I learned to live without peanut butter. Because I didn't eat peanut butter for so long, I can't stand it any more, but Biscoff Spread is delicious.

For our Halloween party, American Crafts catered in a waffle truck. I ordered some special waffle with raspberries and Biscoff. Because the Biscoff was hot and melty, it was even more delicious than usual. Since then I have been thinking of a way to eat melty Biscoff.

This has been a really long introduction to what I really wanted to share today: Grilled Banana and Biscoff Sandwich Recipe.

Basically a grilled cheese sandwich with some substitutions. I used honey butter (equal parts honey and butter) instead of plain butter. I used a mashed up banana so it would stay on my sandwich better. And finally, a thick layer of Biscoff Spread. The first few bites were heavenly, but then I got really fancy and out came the raspberries and whipped cream. It was perfection I tell you!