Samantha had her IV’s removed by late morning today. Her blood sugar and pH levels had stabilized. She was still coughing and had a bit of a fever still but otherwise was much improved. I setup her insulin pump and was back in control of her medication which honestly was reassuring. I guess after doing it for a year, it actually isn’t pleasurable to have that burdened removed. It is just something we do now.

In fact, just after I setup her pump, I gave her half a unit to cover the carbs she had recently eaten with breakfast. About an hour after that, the nurse came in with half a unit in a syringe. She was there and we discussed the insulin when I delivered it and she wasn’t convinced that we should give her more. But, the doctors issued the order and she couldn’t just ignore it. With her support, we talked to the doctors. I showed them the insulin history on our device and that she already had the insulin some time ago. After a quick demonstration of our pump which they hadn’t seen (we were in the ICU so these were not endocrinologists who would necessarily see all the latest tech), everyone agreed that the extra insulin was not appropriate.

So, I had successfully wrestled medicating Samantha from the hospital and from then, I did the blood glucose tests and delivered the insulin. I just had to report to the nurse so the chart was updated.

The next question was when would we be headed home. The consensus was either today or possibly tomorrow. The big concern was that Samantha just did not look too alert or active. My argument was that they interrupted her sleep every hour last night to draw blood for a pH test. Combined with the low grade fever and cough, she was just exhausted. I think everyone agreed and that the best thing for Samantha was to be back at home in comfortable surroundings. By 4:30, we were pulling into our driveway.

I called Randi on the way and asked if we could stop by and pick up Matthew. But, he wanted to stay for dinner and watch a movie with them. She offered to drop him off at 7:00 and he was eager to take her up on that offer. Although Samantha really wanted to see her brother again, I decided to let Matthew stay a bit longer. That worked out well. Samantha really was tired. She wanted to sit on my lap for a little while and watch TV. I tried to offer her some food and she took little bits here and there but not too much. By 6:00, she was asleep in my arms and I took her to her bed.

She has slept very soundly since then. I have tested her blood glucose a couple of times and unlike in the hospital where she would start and cry out, she slept right through it as she used to. Hopefully she will sleep soundly all night and be her usual self tomorrow.

Thanks again everyone for your support. Cynthia is back tomorrow and I may have some more news about house hunting in Ottawa then.