Smoke, Alarms, and Popcorn?

Have you ever awoke so suddenly that your heart races and you feel a panic rising up inside of you? That is exactly what I have just experienced. The halls were full of smoke and all of the alarms began to go off. Our door to Ashley's room which is automatic slid shut and I saw towels at the bottom of it trying to keep the smoke out of her room. The smell was so strong! Then you hear the voices of 15 firemen in the hall who you know are out of breath because they just ran up all five flights of stairs.(everybody knows you aren't supposed to use the elevator in case of a fire, right?) The alarms are blinking in every patient room and this sets off the automatic sinks. The noise and comotion is enough to wake the dead. All I was waiting for was the sprinkler to go off above our heads. Thank you Lord that it did not. So as we are waiting for a rescue the door opens up and I am told not to worry. One of the nurses on the floor got the munchies and decided she would like to have a bag of popcorn. The only problem is that the microwave she chose to use has a history of getting too hot. So there you have it. SMOKE, ALARMS, and not a fire(praise God) but a bag of burnt, beyond recognition POPCORN!!!

As the alarms continued to scream the firemen announce that they are not going to shut off the alarm because that is the police departments job. That made me laugh out loud. Here we are in pediatric ICU ward with 7 very, very sick babies who are trying to sleep and we are stuck listening to the screaming not of our children but of a very high pitched siren. Now the good news in all of this besides the blessing that it was not a real fire, my sweet Ashley slept through the entire thing. She is still sleeping so soundly in her bed. The new med worked and this is the first night in the last 12 that she has slept without a wimper or moan. I am so thankful. We have had a full nights rest. I just heard the nurse who is responsible for this fiasco state what should she do now because she is still hungry. I bet they won't let her use the microwave again. She will have to settle for a candy bar from the vending machine like the rest of us.

They are fixing to come in and take Ashley's chest x-ray. I have been praying that her collapsed areas in the right lung have resolved overnight. If they are still present then they will do the "bronch" procedure I described yesterday. Risks to Ash will be possibility of remaining on the vent, infection, and pnemonia(?).

We love you all and will post again this morning after rounds. Until then have a blessed day. Trish and Ash