About Me

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Bakersfield, CA, United States
Hans was a busy, happy, sweet and fearless three year old when he was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma. He fought his disease like a "gladiator" for nearly 6 years. Hans was an animal lover to his core. He was 'guarded' at home by his three cats, Black, Orange and Cotton. He also had his Golden Retriever, Honey, to keep him company. Hans enjoyed swimming, biking, gardening, grilling (he had his very own grill!), horseback riding, playing video games, building Legos, and flipping between Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and Animal Planet. Hans loved all members of his family and he was a loyal friend. He had to go through a lot of treatment in his life. But Hans powered through it. His attitude was let's get this done! His motivation was always to get back home, to his family, pets, favorite foods and pool.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Need Blood


We are doing better now. Hans has been inpatient on the 5th floor here two nights. We are all but discharged, Hans just happens to need a bag of blood before we hit the door. I believe it is all of Hans' blood draws and fluids that have drained and diluted his Hemoglobin to the point of needing a transfusion right now. He is in the process of getting a type and cross and then he'll get going on his premeds... Benadryl, Hydrocortisone and Tylenol, and we'll cross our fingers that he doesn't have a reaction this time.

I'm the sort of person that never likes to say "I'm bored" but I find myself wanting to say that a few times a day while inpatient. Luckily there is a big grocery store two buildings away from this hospital. That is practically a miracle. Not all hospitals are that way! The kids are entertaining themselves reading magazines, coloring, playing board games and taking cute pics on Kevin's photobooth application of his Mac. Poor Kev had to go work and left us his laptop and his car. We are fortunate to have Aimee and Stefano and Heidi checking up on us and there to help out in both towns.

I am sitting here thinking I need to scale back my move-in goals. Maybe five boxes a day would be more reasonable. I need to repeat my mantra "Hans, you are my first priority". That's what I had to keep reminding myself in the chaos of getting our old house ready to sell.

We had planned to really work around the house this weekend and get some stuff done. I had signed Hans up for "stroke development" swim lessons that were to start yesterday. Ah well. Not to be. We are merely grateful that we are not inpatient for more serious reasons.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

La, Ellie, Hansie - great picture of you two. I sure hope you get to go home soon. Tom and I are off to Washington, D.C. in the morning but I'll keep looking at the blog while we are gone. Love you all, pl

Jana McCall said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

thinking of you all!
xo Jana

Anonymous said...

By now, you should be HOME! WHOO HOO! A quiet weekend that prioritizes ALL of you is due! Give the boxes a rest until Monday...then, 5 a day is reasonable!

Fabulous photo Elle and Hans!

Love you bunches!

Hugs,
Aunt Susy