Out of Control

Jenson is maxed out. Now he says to everyone who comes in the room, "I not want you. No touch me."

They call it "ICU brain" where kids have such a complete loss of control they start to freak out whenever anyone comes near them. The best remedy is for them to get some control back. We think in Jenson's case, a change of scenery back to familiar surroundings where he knows his "nurse friends" will help a lot.

A change of scenery is a possibility for tomorrow. Jenson got out a lot of fluid last night, so assuming he keeps it up today we will get to move tomorrow. I never thought I would be so excited about being inpatient in a bone marrow unit! Talk about a radical change of perspective.

Today we make Jenson work with his physical therapist Erin. He has lost a lot of his strength over the last few weeks and needs to re-learn the basics like sitting up, standing, and walking.

Today Erin works with him on sitting up.

Erin helps him sit up in his bed as his little body trembles and he says between tears, "I scared!".

She compassionately replies, "Don't worry, I won't let you fall."

"I scared!" he repeats while crying harder.

"But you're doing it! Great job," Erin encourages him. She helps him sit up for a couple minutes while he cries pushing through the emotional and physical pain.

The road to recovery is going to be long, but hopefully tomorrow will bring the change of scenery leading us down a new path.

Kristin