Hungry

Hungry.

That’s the word for the last two days. And not slightly hungry, either. Eli has been desperately been wanting to eat, and today he got one step closer. They took out his NG tube. Rather, Eli took out his NG tube (with permission this time). Dr. LaQuaglia said he had never seen a kid take out his own before, but he didn’t really have the patience to watch Eli’s painfully slow process of removing the tape off his face. So Dr. L said, “Faster is better, right?” and grabbed the tape and yanked it off in one fast motion. 🙂 So Eli could have a little bit of clear liquid today. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll move him to a clear liquid diet so he can start ordering things like jello. Then we slowly increase his intake and eventually move to solids to see how his stomach handles it all. It was definitely a good thing to get the NG out, though.

Yesterday they started him on TPN (nutrition in an IV bag) since he hadn’t eaten in over a week. They waited until after the PET scan since the PET scan looks at glucose activities. He practically slept through the entire 30 minute scan, so it was a breeze. He was injected at 8:15am and then we had to wait an hour in a tiny room that was below freezing before they could do the scan. Thankfully he slept through that as well. We won’t know the results of the PET scan until the middle of next week most likely. Thank you for your continued prayers. We don’t know when to expect being released, but we’ll take it one day at a time and only go when the doctors feel that he’s ready.

I forgot to mention that I got away for a few hours last week to join 3 other dads from the Ronald McDonald House (and incidentally three great friends) to see the Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. We were without our kids, but here’s a tip for you dads with young kids. It might seem like a dream come true to take your young son(s) to the Yankees and Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium, but I would recommend against it. Unless of course your goal is to expose them to every swear word in the book in a few short hours. I don’t know if there is worse blood and sportsmanship than between the Yankees fans and the Red Sox fans (which there were PLENTY of that night). I was certain we were going to witness a few throw downs, but the cops were everywhere. That being said, it was a VERY exciting game and every seat was filled. The Yankees won it in the 10th inning and the stadium erupted. We had left after the ninth inning because we knew a good percentage of the 60,000 fans would be heading for the same subway stop we were in the parking lot. It was a great game. Tomorrow afternoon I’m going with the Edwards family (I mentioned their son Kody in the last post) from Mississippi to the Legends & Celebrity Softball Game at Yankee stadium. It’s a part of the All-Star week. Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock, and a bunch of other celebrities and Super Bowl champs are playing. We have good seats, so it should be fun to watch.

I thought I’d throw in a food review for you. Long time readers rejoice. Although, Lacey called me a redneck food critic today because I couldn’t even tell what spice was infiltrating the free little appetizer they gave us (it was dill). Ok, so I’m not exactly critiquing 5 star restaurants here, but at least I can try to give you some ideas on good eats in the city, right? 🙂 We have been to three different diners here (3 Star Diner, Starlight Cafe, and now the Green Kitchen). Honestly, there is virtually no difference between the three in quality or price of food ($8-$15 entrees). Each one serves up a nice burger or ceasar chicken wrap (Lacey gives the Green Kitchen the dubious award of best wrap in the city). However, there is a big difference in atmosphere. The Green Kitchen (on 77th and 1st ave) is much more spacious and has a higher quality ambiance about it. Since the food and prices are all the same, I think we’ll be hitting the Green Kitchen whenever we’re in the mood for a Diner.