One last thing before I go to bed. I've mentioned several times all the things that upset Andrew, and I certainly can't blame him. Having a tube down your throat and getting poked and prodded all day has to be a nuisance, and I would be worried if he didn't get a little upset. However, Andrew seems to be most bothered by dirty diapers.
The catheter came out weeks ago and his digestive system is still moving enough to produce stool, so he has wet and/or dirty diapers relatively often, especially because of the diuretic. It seems that as soon as he's wet, he immediately starts to get fussy. That anxiety continues (and gains momentum) until his diaper is changed.
When he starts moving around and becoming agitated, the nurses have a tendency to come over and suction his mouth, move him around, etc. As of today, we all collectively realized that the first thing they should always do is check his diaper. If his diaper's wet, there's no point in getting him extra anxious from all the handling. At one point he dirtied his diaper twice within an hour....the nurse did everything she could think of to calm him down, then finally thought to check him down below....a new diaper and everything was good as new. The nurses are going to pass that message along at shift changes, but we're tempted to make a little sign to hang over his bed: "Check My Diaper First."
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