Thursday, May 13, 2010

(day 3) -or- the Mac&Cheese conundrum

Another night of frequently retrieving the urinal, I've gotten used to sleeping with one ear open and as soon as I hear Joshua tossing and turning I get up. Morning came too early once again. Waffles and bacon were brought in for breakfast today because pancakes were not listed on the menu. Upon lifting up the lid on the dish, I was immediately notified by my patient that waffles were absolutely unacceptable, so I had to call down to the kitchen and order pancakes, you'd think I should have known better by now. They gave Joshua medication for nausea, it must be working because his appetite was a little better today. Besides some nausea and a few complaints about his jaw aching, he doesn't seem to have too many side effects yet.
After his afternoon nap, Joshua was hungry and had some Frosted Flakes, then decided he wanted his mac-n-cheese that he hadn't eaten from lunch, his other favorite food besides pancakes and bacon. I warmed it up and when I gave it to him, instead of the look of glee I had expected, he glowered at me, "I don't want that plastic spoon!" Silly mom then removed the disposable plastic spoon from the bowl and replaced it with his cool Transformer spoon we brought from home. My smile was met with a big huff followed by a scowl, "Not that spoon, that's the one I ate my cereal with! I want a metal spoon." I usually save back a spoon from his meal tray for when he wants to eat something later, but all the silverware had been collected earlier. The metal spoon from home was too big, of course, so he didn't want that one either. The nice lady that cleans our room, in a effort to solve our dilemma, found a metal spoon in the nurses' lounge. I cleaned it and dried the prized spoon, but the joy I felt for this small victory vanished quickly as I was met with a frown, yet again. When I inquired as to what could possibly be wrong now, I was told, "I don't want this macaroni anymore, I want a new one!" I'm sure by this time most parents, in a regular home setting, would contemplate pulling one's hair out and simply sending the child outside without any macaroni. But, what can you do when he's stuck in a hospital bed hooked up to an i.v.? So, I took the unacceptable bowl of pasta to the snack area mixed a little milk and cream cheese in it, reheated it, brought it back and with my fingers crossed I presented it. The grimace on his face proved that I was still missing something, I almost begged and cried as to what it could possibly be now? His big brown eyes looked up at me and he said, "I want you to feed me and do airplane." Hallelujah! For just a brief moment, the planets aligned, the earth was in the proper orbit and Joshua ate his mac-n-cheese.

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