And the winner is...

My sister, Anissa! And no, she didn't have any unfair advantages regarding what odd thing was on Emma's medicine cart. She emailed me her answer and not only nailed what the odd item was, but also what it was for. Dr. Troup and a couple of the nurses were very concerned about Emma's delicate baby skin. The wound care nurse said that they've started using Glad Press 'N Seal right on people's skin. It's really gentle on skin but still sticks to it. In this picture, you can see the shiny Press 'N Seal around the edges, and the gauze is taped to the Press 'N Seal. The Press 'N Seal is just cut into strips that are lined up with the edges of the incision; it doesn't actually go over the open wound. So when it's time for a dressing change, you just peel the Press 'N Seal up, and everything comes off without harming the little booboo's skin. The wound nurse said it's only a matter of time before Glad realizes that the medical profession is using it, and they'll start producing it for hospitals and charge three times as much.



Today was kind of frustrating on a few different levels. Again, no one will really identify what the white gooey spot in the middle of Emma's wound is. The best thing I can come up with is what Dr. Troup seems to think - the muscle has separated (from itself? from the skin? I don't know.). He doesn't seem worried. So I'm trying my best to not be worried, either. NICU doctors have told us we need to make sure spinal fluid isn't leaking. Apparently it just looks like water when it leaks.

The next frustrating thing that really almost ruined my day was a nursing situation...AGAIN. AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN. I posted a couple days ago that I didn't feel great about the nurse on Tuesday night. Last night I felt even worse. Last night's nurse was the same nurse who we felt so uncomfortable with that Russell spent the night a while back. We specifically requested to not have her back, but apparently that request was somehow overlooked. As I said yesterday, Dawn received new and improved instructions on dressing Emma's wound, including the new Press 'N Seal use. Dawn is very, very attentive, smart, and caring, so I know for a fact that she correctly documented AND verbally communicated the dressing instructions to last night's nurse. (Side note: sweet Dawn even called the NICU this morning on her day off to check on Emma and see if Dr. Troup had come by.) So when 4:00 dressing change time rolled around today, today's clueless nurse peeled up the Press N' Seal, only to find that the night nurse had dressed the wound completely wrong. It doesn't even make sense how she dressed it. So then I had to give today's nurse instructions on how to do it properly. Two problems with this are:
1. Today's nurse was stubborn (even though she requested my help) and didn't fully listen to me until she realized her way wasn't going to work, so the dressing change took half an hour, and Emma was starving and ticked off because it had been 4 and a half hours since she had eaten. Some adults can't make it that long.
2. I didn't pay complete attention to the wound care nurse's instructions yesterday because I wasn't aware that I would be teaching OTHER nurses how to do it!!! Again, I don't blame Dawn because she did her job in regards to documenting and verbally communicating instructions.
After we finally got the wound dressed the way I think (I THINK, I HOPE!!) it's supposed to be, I demanded to see the nurse manager IMMEDIATELY. I was nice to her and not rude at all but very clear about how disappointed we are and how ridiculous Emma's care has been at times.

Emma is currently in a state of monitoring - monitoring the development of the wound, monitoring the fluid on her brain, monitoring the little red irritated vein the PICC is in, etc. So what good does it do for the people who monitor Emma to be a revolving door of one-time nurses who have no idea if something is improving or getting worse?! My nightmare scenario is that Emma is crying, a new nurse comes in to console her, and lays her on her back or puts pressure on this incision because they haven't seen it uncovered and don't know any better. I don't understand why no effort is made to assign the same group of nurses to high-maintenance babies like Emma...babies with specific, unique, and critical needs. I understand that there are over 100 nurses in the NICU, and we can't just have the same 2 every time. But we've been here for 4 and a half weeks. That's plenty of time to establish a history of nurses who have cared for and can continue to care for Emma. I explained these concerns to the nurse manager, and I'm really hoping that I don't have to have a 5th conversation about nurses. I bet I've earned a reputation for being THAT mom...too bad...my daughter has a gaping, 3-inch infected hole in her back and fluid on her brain. We've earned the right to good care. We've had tonight's nurse before, and she's good...and she's not back again until next Wednesday. Figures.

The nurse manager suggested that tomorrow Dawn and I write out dressing instructions and take step-by-step pictures as she changes the dressing. This will also allow any new nurses to see pictures up front of how severe the wound is. I know Dawn will be happy to do this. After getting to know her pretty well, I feel certain that Dawn will be ticked that Emma didn't get the level of care she has tried to set up for her, but she won't really voice that to me.

For now, I will thank God that I can go home at ease with Emma's nursing care tonight, tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday (Dawn AND Erica are here this weekend!). I can't think ahead to Sunday, her last day of antibiotics - this is supposed to be a turning point in regards to the next step for her. I just have to think about tonight and tomorrow morning. She will be taken care of. After that, I'm taking it a few hours at a time. I think I might be a little closer to learning how to truly rest in the Lord's plan. Believe me, I am nowhere close to being at ease with all of this and worry-free...but just taking things a little bit at a time and not thinking too far ahead allows me to trust that He is looking ahead for me.