Isolation

After a bit of a restless night, Henry didn't awake until after 8am this morning. He ate several packages of crackers yesterday evening and wanted juice as well. I took all of this as a good sign as usually he won't tolerate anything in or near his mouth if he feels any nausea.

He woke happily and has spent all day in bed. We help him go to the bathroom in a urinal to which he's become accustomed. When asked if he wants to play on the floor, he’ll reply that maybe he’d like to later. He mostly lies quietly and watches television.

Our nurse came in the late morning and told us of some disappointing news. They had done a stool culture and found something called VRE. Henry has bacteria in his gut that are resistant to a particular antibiotic, Vancomyacin. In and of itself this is not really anything to be concerned about and Henry is on an array of antibiotics and anti fungal medicines that should keep him doing well. To prevent passing it on to others however, he must now be put in ‘isolation’. There are special contact precautions that all the health care workers must take now when entering the room, they must all don gloves and gowns in addition to their masks. Henry cannot go into the hallway without being bathed and his clothes changed. He is no longer allowed in the playroom, which is the biggest downside for him. Apparently this condition takes a while to resolve, particularly while resident in the hospital. His precautions will not be lifted until he can have three consecutive negative stool cultures – to be taken a week apart from each other. This purports, therefore, to affect him for the duration of our stay in and near the hospital.

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Note: Due to internet inaccessibility I wasn't able to put yesterday's post up until now - read about Henry's B-I-N-G-O game