Amazing Madelyn Grace: Moving on up.

Happy Sunday! Here’s the scoop:

They moved Madelyn from the first floor Trauma ICU to the second floor Burn ICU around midnight. This caused her to be pretty disoriented and confused so she didn’t sleep very well.

It took a while to calm her down once mom and dad got to the hospital and she slept most of the afternoon. She had moments when she was awake and would chat with us, but for the most part she wanted to rest since she didn’t get much at night.

Lungs are looking good! She is breathing very well without the trach and we all prefer her without it. She still has support oxygen in her nose but she’s doing very well without the trach. Hooray! Her voice is still a faint whisper but speech therapy should be coming by this week to work with her on strengthening her vocal chords.

PT came and got her up and into a recliner where she stayed for a good while. Her hands are getting more useful and she’s able to grab things better than she has been which is huge.

The food situation is definitely… interesting. Since she has a specific diet of mashed and minced foods, her meals look, to put it honestly, a little freaky. This morning she had some puréed bacon and gravy, a blended biscuit in the shape of mashed potatoes, oatmeal, applesauce and a bunch of other things that she won’t eat anyway. They also have to thicken her beverages with this nectar stuff so her milk and her orange juice were thick. Thick milk.

Now, for Madelyn as a picky eater, we knew that hospital food wasn’t going to be the most appetizing. But for Madelyn as a human being, I would say there ain’t no one in this world that wakes up and says: “You know what? I’m craving some good ol’ fashioned puréed bacon and gravy to start my day.” NO. The toughest part is that in order to prove she’s getting enough nutrients to remove her feeding tube, she has to eat at least 50% of her meals. We talked with her day nurse about foods that Mad likes, so we hope that she will soon get some food that will accommodate to her picky eating style as well as her desire to literally never eat blended meat. She’s been eating pretty good bites of pudding and ice cream, but she will need more than that eventually. Do y’all think Mi Cocina can DoorDash a puréed order of jim nachos?

Besides her wonky diet, she is doing well and we’re glad that she is moving on up physically and medically.

Also, if you still wish to send Mad a card, we ask that you either send it to my house in Nashville or to the store. Here are the addresses again!

Madelyn Owens c/o Lilly Owens
553 Rosedale Ave
Apt 118
Nashville, TN 37211

Or:

Madelyn Owens c/o Scott Owens

1747 Hwy 100

Centerville, TN 37033

Talk to you tomorrow!

Psalm 103:1 - Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name!