Bananas for the win
After how January had played out, we were all feeling a little exhausted. We had begun February feeling cautiously optimistic about how the month would play out. On Jan 8th, after struggling to get her diarrhea under control, I had begun a discussion with the dietician at the QA Centre about possible solutions for her misbehaving bowels. The dietician had suggested a product called Banatrol (which is a product that helps people with chronic diarrhea naturally thicken their bowel movements). It’s just dried banana flakes and a prebiotic, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to try it out. At the end of January, we received some sample packets of Banatrol, and by the evening of February 2nd, we were ready to begin trying it out. Within 24hrs we started to see positive results, and over the following couple of weeks, her digestive system continued to improve. Hopefully one day her bowels will function normally, but so far that is not the case.
Feb 5th, 2021
On the 4th of February, we shared a zoom call with her complex feeding team from BC Children’s Hospital. Olivia had just experienced a small growth spurt, so her feeding team decided we should increase the volume of her feeds from 120ml to 140ml. I had decided to postpone the feed change until after her gut had time to adjust to the addition of Banatrol (Olivia’s digestive system tends to struggle if we make too many changes at once). It appeared that things were going well until we faced a minor setback on the 10th. That day, Olivia, myself, and her nurse were witnesses to what I would describe as a public pooping extravaganza. It was a day that will not be forgotten, and one that cannot be summed up in a brief paragraph. If you want to know what happened, I will be sharing the story of that day’s events in an upcoming episode titled “Adventures with ophthalmology.” After the 10th, I decided to postpone her feed increase again (at least for another couple of weeks). By the 23rd, Olivia seemed ready to attempt another increase of her feeds, so I decided to jump in headfirst. Rather than increasing her feed volume gradually, I decided to bump her up to the desired volume of 140ml that afternoon. Needless to say, it did not go well. Immediately after her feed had finished, she had a big poopy blowout. Feeling a little concerned and discouraged, I decided to take a temporary step back and return her feeds to what they were previously. Once again we found ourselves patiently waiting for Olivia to tell us when she was ready for more food.
Feb 23rd, 2021
As the month dragged on, we continued to tread water as we waited for our nursing situation to improve. Almost half of our shifts for the month were cancelled due to sick calls, and the rest of them were spent trying to play catch up for the time lost. By the end of the month, it barely felt like we had received any respite at all. We held out hope that our interview with a new nurse on the 25th would go well (because if it did, we would finally get the help we needed). After meeting the new nurse that day, we felt optimistic about the future. For a brief moment, I felt a sigh of relief, but my optimism was shattered just as quickly when we received an email with more bad news. Our prospective nurse was so desirable that VIHA felt the need to poach her from us. I’m honestly not surprised though. Our province has been experiencing a nursing shortage for a while now, so finding a nurse who is available to help us has been incredibly challenging. Our team continued the search for new nurses, and we continued to hold our breath that things would get better. I found myself feeling hopeful again, as I looked forward to the fact that march would be a less busy month, (plus it didn’t hurt that all our nursing shifts for that month were covered).
This February marked one year since we were displaced from our home because of the flood. Much like the previous February, this one was also full of chaos. Although it was a stressful month, it wasn’t all bad. We had lots of great moments sprinkled in the mix, and amongst all the chaos, I did manage to get this blog launched. One of the many lessons I’ve learned in my lifetime is that the silver lining is not always easy to find, but it’s always there.
