Halloween on TV: Part 2

The 13 Days of Halloween have started! :)

Again - please pay special attention to the colors on the schedule. If you don't know about a movie, I recommend googling it first or reading about it on IMDB.com. My color coding is sketchy, at best. :}

NOTE: Most Disney movies are shown on the eastern channel at a later time as well. Be sure to check it out!

RECOMMENDATIONS: Hocus Pocus, Beetlejuice, Addams Family, Addams Family Values, Practical Magic, Twitches, Twitches Too, Casper, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, and all of the non-animated Scooby-Doos.

And, for the scarier, adult movies, I suggest: Scream, Death Becomes Her (ABCFAM, 22nd, 11pm - loved this movie when I was little), Halloween (my all time favorite scary movie), Disturbia, and The Skeleton Key.

I am also going to watch 'People Under the Stairs' again. It terrified me when I was little. I'm interested in watching it as an adult. We don't get AMC; but, I saw it was on Netflix Instant. :)

Orange - Rated 'G' and very kid friendly
Green - Rated 'PG' or 'PG13' and discretion is advised
Purple - Adults or Teens Only

Thursday, October 20th
4 pm – The Scream Team (DISXD)

5 pm – Flight of the Living Dead (AMC)

5:30 pm – The Goonies (ABCFAM)

6 pm – Hostel Part II (SyFy)

7 pm – Slither (AMC)

7 pm – The Craigslist Killer (LMN)

7:30 pm – Return to Halloweentown (DISNEY)
8 pm – Hocus Pocus (ABCFAM)

8 pm – Resident Evil (SyFy)

9:15 pm – Lake Placid (AMC)

10 pm – The Midnight Meat Train (SyFy)

Friday, October 21st
5 pm – American Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Slither (AMC)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)
6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)
6 pm – Hocus Pocus (ABCFAM)

7 pm – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (AMC)

8 pm – Beetlejuice (ABCFAM)

8 pm – District 9 (FX)

9 pm – Scream (MTV)

10 pm – Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files (series) (SyFy)

10:30 pm – District 9 (FX)

11 pm – The Hills Have Eyes (AMC)

11:30 pm – Scream (MTV)

Midnight – Rise: Blood Hunter (SyFy)

Saturday, October 22nd

9 am - Midnight – Ghost Whisperer Marathon (series) (WE)

6 am – Prom Night (FX)

6:15 am – The Fly (1958) (AMC)

7 am – The Little Vampire (ABCFAM)

7 am – Murder on a Bridle Path (1936) (TCM)

8 am – Pumpkinhead: Blood Feud (Syfy)

8:15 am – Village of the Damned (AMC)

8:30 am – The Ghoul (TCM)

9 am – Jumanji (ABCFAM)

9 am – Final Destination (FX)

9 am – Nightmare at the End of the Hall (LMN)

10 am – Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (SyFy)

10:30 am – The People Under the Stairs (AMC)

11 am – Vacancy (LMN)

11: 30 am – The Goonies (ABCFAM)

Noon – The Pumpkin Karver (SyFy)

Noon – Chill Out, Scooby-Doo! (CARTOON)

12:30 pm – Takes from the Darkside: The Movie (AMC)

1 pm – Nora Roberts’ Carnal Innocence (LIFE)

1 pm – Gothika (LMN)

2 pm – Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (CARTOON)

2 pm – Mothman (SyFy)

2: 30 pm – The Hills Have Eyes (AMC)

3 pm – The Bad Son (LIFE)

3 pm – Mr. Brooks (LMN)

3 pm – The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (NIK)

4 pm – House of Bones (SyFy)

5 pm – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (AMC)

5 pm – Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular (CARTOON)

5 pm – Final Destination 3 (FX)

5 pm – The Hunt for the I-5 Killer (LIFE)

5 pm – Committed (LMN)
6 pm – The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It (CARTOON)

6 pm – Jeepers Creepers 2 (SyFy)

6:05 pm – The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (STARZ)

7 pm – The Addams Family (ABCFAM)

7 pm – From Dusk till Dawn (AMC)

7 pm – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (E!)

7 pm – The Alphabet Killer (LIFE)

7 pm – Awake (LMN)

7 pm – Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (NIK)

8 pm – Oliver’s Ghost (HALMRK)

8 pm – Halloween (2007) (SyFy)

9 pm – Addams Family Values (ABCFAM)

9 pm – The House Next Door (LMN)

9 pm – Men in Black II (TBS)

9:15 pm – From Dusk till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (AMC)

10 pm – Oliver’s Ghost (HALMRK)

10:30 pm – House of Bones (SyFy)

11 pm – Death Becomes Her (ABCFAM)

11 pm – Awake (LMN)

11:01 pm – The Alphabet Killer (LIFE)

11:15 pm – From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (AMC)

Midnight – Cry of the Werewolf (1944) (TCM)

12: 30 am (technically Sunday) – Halloween (2007) (SyFy)

Sunday, October 23rd

6 am – Teen Witch (ABCFAM)

6 am – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (E!)

6:30 am – From Dusk till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (AMC)

7 am – Final Destination (FX)

7 am – Still Small Voices (LMN)

8 am – The Goonies (ABCFAM)

8:30 am – From Dusk till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter (AMC)

9 am – Scooby Doo & the Samurai Sword (CARTOON)

9 am – Final Destination 3 (FX)

9 am – In Her Mother’s Footsteps (LMN)

10 am – Bailey’s Mistake (HALMRK)

10 am – Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (NIK)

10:30 am – Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (CARTOON)

10:30 am – Flight of the Living Dead (AMC)

11 am – Joy Ride (FX)

11 am – Homecoming (LIFE)

11 am – The Dead Will Tell (LMN)

11:30 am – Ghost Voyage (SyFy)

12:30 pm – Diary of the Dead (AMC)

1 pm – Death Race (FX)

1 pm – Stranger with My Face (LMN)

1:30 pm – Ghost Town (SyFy)

2 pm – Oliver’s Ghost (HALMRK)

2:30 pm – Survival of the Dead (AMC)

3 pm – The Stepson (LIFE)

3 pm – Haunting Sarah (LMN)

3:30 pm – Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas (ABCFAM)

3:30 pm – Jeepers Creepers 2 (SyFy)

4 pm – Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy (CARTOON)

4 pm – Bailey’s Mistake (HALMRK)

4:15 pm – Men in Black II (TBS)

4:30 pm – Resident Evil (AMC)

5 pm – Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (ABCFAM)

5 pm – The Haunting Hour: Don’t Think About It (CARTOON)

5 pm – The Alphabet Killer (LIFE)

5 pm – The Haunting of Sorority Row (LMN)

5 pm – Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (NIK)

6 pm – Edge of the Garden (HALMRK)

6:30 pm – The Walking Dead (series) (AMC)

7 pm – Coraline (ABCFAM)

7 pm – The Haunting of Molly Hartley (LMN)

8 pm – The Walking Dead (series) (AMC)

8 pm – Oliver’s Ghost (HALMRK)

8 pm – The Haunting in Connecticut (SyFy)

9 pm – Beetlejuice (ABCFAM)

9 pm – The Walking Dead (series) (AMC)

9 pm – The Legend of Lucy Keyes (LMN)

10 pm – Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End (USA)

Monday, October 24th

4 pm – Dreamcatcher (AMC)

4 pm – Monsters, Inc. (DISXD)

4 pm – The Haunting in Connecticut (SyFy)

4:30 pm – Scooby-Doo and the Goblin King (CARTOON)

5 pm – Melissa & Joey (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

5 pm – Christie’s Revenge (LMN)

5:30 pm – Bewitched (ABCFAM)

6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7 pm – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

7 pm – Hellboy II: The Golden Army (FX)

7 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7 pm – Glass House: The Good Mother (LMN)

7 pm – Carnival of Souls (1962) (TCM)

7:30 pm – Practical Magic (ABCFAM)

7:30 pm – Twitches (DISNEY)

8 pm – Orphan (LIFE)

9 pm – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

9:01 pm – Castle (Halloween Themed) (Series) (ABC)

9:30 pm – Dementia 13 (TCM)

10 pm – Hellboy II: The Golden Army (FX)

10:05 pm – The Condemned (USA)

11 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

11:15 pm – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

Midnight – Orphan (LIFE)

Tuesday, October 25th

4 pm – Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (Non-Animated) (CARTOON)

5 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

6 pm – The Haunted Mansion (ABCFAM)

6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

6 pm – 30 Days of Night: Dark Days (SyFy)

7 pm – Last Man Standing (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABC)

7 pm – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (AMC)

7 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7:30 pm – Twitches Too (DISNEY)

8 pm – Monsters, Inc. (ABCFAM)

8 pm – Karla (LIFE)

8 pm – My Bloody Valentine (2009) (Syfy)

9 pm – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (AMC)

10 pm – Valentine (SyFy)

Wednesday, October 26th

4 pm – Monster House (CARTOON)

5 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (AMC)

5 pm – Do You Know Me? (LMN)

6 pm – Monster’s, Inc. (ABCFAM)

6 pm – Ghost Hunters (series) (SyFy)

6:30 pm – Twilight (FX)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7 pm – The Middle (Halloween Themed) (Series) (ABC)

7 pm – Glee (Rocky Horror Picture Show Themed) (Series) (FOX)

7 pm – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (AMC)

7 pm – Ghost Hunters (Series) (SyFy)

7:30 pm – Suburgatory (Halloween Themed) (Series) (ABC)

7:30 pm – Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? (DISNEY)

8 pm – Modern Family (Halloween Themed) (Series) (ABC)

8 pm – Casper (Non-Animated) (ABCFAM)

8 pm – Ghost Hunters (Series) (SyFy)

8:31 pm – Happy Endings (Halloween Themed) (Series) (ABC)

9 pm – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

Thursday, October 27th

4:30 pm – Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur (CARTOON)

5 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

5 pm – The Hills Have Eyes II (SyFy)

6 pm – Casper (ABCFAM)

7 pm – It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (ABC)

7 pm – Community (Halloween Themed) (Series) (NBC)

7 pm – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

7:30 pm – Parks and Recreation (Halloween Themed) (Series) (NBC)

7:30 pm – My Babysitter’s a Vampire (DISNEY)

8 pm – Scooby-Doo (ABCFAM)

9:15 pm – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (AMC)

10 pm – The Hills Have Eyes II (SyFy)

Friday, October 28th

4 pm – Batman vs. Dracula (CARTOON)

4 pm – Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? (DISXD)

5 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

5 pm – Flight of the Living Dead (AMC)

5 pm – Saw IV (SyFy)

6 pm – The Addams Family (ABCFAM)

6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

7 pm – Survival of the Dead (AMC)

7 pm – Twilight (FX)

8 pm – Addams Family Values (ABCFAM)

8 pm – Drag Me to Hell (USA)

9 pm – Friday the 13th (MTV)

9 pm – The Black Room (1935) (TCM)

9:30 pm – 30 Days of Night (FX)

10:15 pm – The Other (TCM)

10:30 pm – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (AMC)

11 pm – Scream (MTV)

11 pm – Rocky Horror Picture Show (VH1)

Midnight – Pumpkinhead: Ashes to Ashes (SyFy)

Midnight – Ghost Whisperer (series) (WE)

Saturday, October 29th

9 am - Midnight – Ghost Whisperer Marathon (series) (WE)

6 am – The Fog (Stephen King) (2005) (FX)

7 am – Sabrina the Teenage Witch (ABCFAM)

7:15 am – Bride of Frankenstein (AMC)

8 am – Darkness Falls (FX)

8 am – Drag Me to Hell (USA)

8:30 – Doctor X (1932) (TCM)

9 am – Teen Witch (ABCFAM)

9 am – Lake Placid (AMC)

9:30 am – Return of the Living Dead: Rave to the Grave (SyFy)

10 am – Scary Gomother: Halloween Spooktakular (CARTOON)

10 am – Growing the Big One (HALMRK)

10:30 am – Rocky Horror Picture Show (VH1)

11 am – Casper (ABCFAM)

11 am – Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (AMC)

11 am – Dying to Belong (LMN)

11 am – Ghosts of Mississippi (TNT)

11:30 am – Death Valley: The Revenge of Bloody Bill (SyFy)

Noon – Oliver’s Ghost (HALMRK)

12:30 pm – Within (LIFE)

1 pm – Scooby-Doo (The Movie) (ABCFAM)

1 pm – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

1 pm – Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (Non-Animated) (CARTOON)

1:30 pm – Saw IV (SyFy)

2 pm – The Good Witch (HALMRK)

2 pm – The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (NIK)

2:30 pm – Secrets in the Walls (LIFE)

3 pm – Coraline (ABCFAM)

3 pm – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

3 pm – Vampire Secrets (Special) (HIST)

3 pm – Lies in Plain Sight (LMN)

3:30 pm – Dawn of the Dead (SyFy)

4 pm – Shaun of the Dead (COMEDY)

4 pm – The Good Witch’s Garden (HALMRK)

4:30 pm – 30 Days of Night (FX)

4:30 pm – Orphan (LIFE)

4:30 pm – 30 Days of Night (FX)

5 pm – Matilda (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (AMC)

5 pm – Bloodlines: The Dracula Family Tree (HIST)

5 pm – Bond of Silence (LMN)

5:30 – The Mummy Returns (CARTOON)

5:30 pm – The Little Vampire (DISXD)

6 pm – The Good Witch (HALMRK)

6 pm – Lost Worlds (Special) (HIST)

6 pm – Resident Evil: Apocalypse (SyFy)

7 pm – Hocus Pocus (ABCFAM)

7 pm – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (AMC)

7 pm – Twilight (FX)

7 pm – The Real Story of Halloween (HIST)

7 pm – Possessing Piper Rose (LIFE)

7 pm – 1408 (TNT)

8 pm – The Good Witch’s Family (HALMRK)

8 pm – Zombies: A Living History (HIST)

8 pm – Scream (MTV)

8 pm – Zombie Apocalypse (SyFy)

9 pm – Hocus Pocus (ABCFAM)

9 pm – Secrets in the Walls (LIFE)

9 pm – Do You Know Me? (LMN)

9:15 pm – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (AMC)

10 pm – The Good Witch’s Family (HALMRK)

10 pm – Halloween (2007) (SyFy)

10 pm – The Body Snatcher(1945) (TCM)

10 pm – Disturbia (TNT)

11 pm – The Haunted Mansion (ABCFAM)

11:01 pm – The Real Story of Halloween (HIST)

11:01 pm – Possessing Piper Rose (LIFE)

11:15 – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

11:30 pm – Isle of the Dead (1945) (TCM)

12:10 am (technically Sunday) – I Know What You Did Last Summer (STARZ)

12:30 am – Zombie Apocalypse (SyFy)

Sunday, October 30th

6 am – The Omen (FX)

6:30 am – Scooby-Doo (The Movie) (ABCFAM)

6:30 am – White Zombie (1932) (TCM)

7 am – Slither (AMC)

7:30 am – Shaun of the Dead (COMEDY)

7:45 am – The Devil Doll (1936) (TCM)

8 am – The Pumpkin Karver (SyFy)

8:30 am – Casper (ABCFAM)

8:30 am – Halloween: Resurrection (FX)

9 am – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

9 am – Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy (CARTOON)

9:15 am – The Uninvited (1944) (TCM)

9:50 am – I Know What You Did Last Summer (STARZ)

10 am – The Good Witch (HALMRK)

10 am – The Boy Who Cried Werewolf (NIK)

10:30 am – Matilda (ABCFAM)

10:30 am – Prom Night (FX)

11 am – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

11 am – Halloweentown (DISNEY)

11 am – Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (BBC)

Noon – The Good Witch’s Garden (HALMRK)

Noon – Monster High: Fright On! (Cartoon Series) (NIK)

12:30 pm – The Addams Family (ABCFAM)

12:30 pm – The Strangers (FX)

12:35 pm – Halloweentown 2: Kalabar’s Revenge (DISNEY)

1 pm – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (AMC)

1 pm – Dial M for Murder (1954) (TCM)

1 pm – Gremlins (CMT)

1:30 pm – Hannibal (BBC)

2 pm – The Good Witch’s Family (HALMRK)

2 pm – Resident Evil: Apocalypse (SyFy)

2:10 pm – Halloweentown High (DISNEY)

2:30 pm – Addams Family Values (ABCFAM)

2:30 pm – The Sixth Sense (FX)

2:45 pm – Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster (Non-Animated (CARTOON)

2:50 pm – The Tourist (STARZ)

3 pm – Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (AMC)

3 pm – Disturbia (TNT)

3:45 pm – Return to Halloweentown (DISNEY)

4 pm – The Exorcist (BBC)

4 pm – Growing the Big One (HALMRK)

4 pm – Underworld: Evolution (SyFy)

4:30 pm – Practical Magic (ABCFAM)

4:30 pm – The Mummy Returns (CARTOON)

5 pm – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (AMC)

5 pm – The Happening (FX)

5 pm – Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred (NIK)

5 pm – 1408 (TNT)

5:25 pm – Igor (DISNEY)

6 pm – The Good Witch (HALMRK)

6 pm – Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Syfy)

6:30 pm – Hannibal (BBC)

6:30 pm – The Last House on the Left (SPK)

7 pm – The Simpsons (Halloween Themed) (FOX)

7 pm – Van Helsing (ABCFAM)

7 pm – My Babysitter’s a Vampire (DISNEY)

7 pm – Twilight (FX)

8 pm – The Good Witch’s Family (HALMRK)

8 pm – Halloween (SyFy)

8:35 pm – Mostly Ghostly: Who Let the Ghosts Out? (DISNEY)

9 pm – The Exorcist (BBC)

9 pm – The Skeleton Key (OXYGN)

9:30 pm – Twilight (FX)

10 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

10 pm – Friday the 13th (2009) (MTV)

10 pm – The Tourist (STARZ)

10:30 pm – Underworld: Evolution (SyFy)

Monday, October 31st – Halloween!

5 pm – America’s Funniest Home Videos (Halloween Themed) (series) (ABCFAM)

5 pm – Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (AMC)

5 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

5 pm – Ghost Hunters (series) (LIFE)

5 pm – Ghost Hunters: Halloween LIVE (series) (LIFE)

5:30 pm – The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964) (TCM)

6 pm – Unsolved Mysteries (series) (LIFE)

6 pm – Casper (ABCFAM)

6:30 pm – Twilight (FX)

7 pm – How I Met Your Mother (Halloween Themed) (series) (CBS)

7 am – Halloween (1978) (AMC)

7 am – Gremlins (CMT)

7 am – The Haunting of Molly Hartley (LIFE)

7 am – Village of the Damned (TCM)

8 pm – Hocus Pocus (ABCFAM)

8:30 pm – Night of the Living Dead (TCM)

8:31 pm – Mike & Molly (Halloween Themed) (series) (CBS)

9 pm – Halloween III: Season of the Witch (AMC)

9:30 pm – Gremlins (CMT)

10:05 pm – Drag Me to Hell (USA)

11:01 pm – The Haunting of Molly Hartley (LIFE)

11:15 pm – Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (AMC)

Midnight – The House of the Devil (MTV)

Midnight – Ghost Whisperer (series) (WE)

12:05 am – Drag Me to Hell (USA)

Enjoy and Happy Halloween! :)

Broom Riding

Lucy's going to be a witch for Halloween. Yep - I totally ruined the surprise; but, I had to tell you or this post wouldn't make any sense.  Last week, I tried to teach Lucy how to ride her new broom. I just don't think she got the hang of it...for some reason she thinks you sweep with it-?

We need to work on it a little more.

Scary Times: Part 3

[As most of you may know, our Scary Times "saga" continued this last weekend. It looks like this three part story may have just become a 5 or 6 parter. Stay tuned...]

Part 1
Part 2

The last morning in the hospital was bittersweet. We were so ready to go home; but, we were nervous about not having Lucy monitored closely. We, once again, had a night of constant interrupted sleep. It ended with us being woken up at 7 am by the surgeon resident.  In our sleep deprived state, we still somehow found humor...

The surgeon resident, who was of Indian descent, asked if Lucy had been, "em, meeking da farrts?"

I giggled like an immature school girl as soon as he left. I took it as a good sign for my future state of mind. Little did I know that I would be "taking a test" later on that day.

A little after noon, we were visited by the home health care nurses.  Lucy had to be given antibiotics for the next two weeks, even though we were headed home. These antibiotics needed to be administered through the picc line that was inserted during surgery. The picc line was a tube that went into her arm, just above her inner elbow. It ran up her arm and into her heart. It would allow the antibiotics to be centrally dispersed. Surely, only a qualified, medical staff member could administer those right?

Nope. Say hello to nurse Cori and nurse Heath.

We were walked through the process:

First, prime the antibiotic line by attaching the syringe to the tube and pushing out any air. It is important not to have any air in the line, because it goes straight to her heart. Talk about stressful!!!

Then, wipe off the end of the picc line with one, two, three iodine wipes. Let it dry for 30 seconds. During this time do not let the end touch anything. Then, wipe the end of the picc line off with one, two, three alcohol wipes. Again, don't let it touch anything or you have to start over. We couldn't risk any bacteria getting into the line. Then, put in 5 ml of saline. Again, no air. Attach the antibiotic tube. Let the machine (which we also had to learn how to use) push in the antibiotics for the next thirty minutes. When the alarm goes off, you turn off the machine. Before you disconnect the tube, we must again wipe the connection place with three iodine pads, dry 30 seconds, wipe with three alcohol pads. Then, 5 ml more of saline and 2 ml of heparin. No air in either of those syringes, remember!

That isn't too bad for once a day, right? No - it isn't. How about three times a day? Every eight hours? Yep. Awful. We were doing it at 6 am, 2 pm, and 10 pm. And, we had to remember to set the antibiotic out (from the fridge) 30 minutes before, so it wasn't cold. Lucy had to sit still too.

I apparently passed the "absolutely, completely unqualified parental test" that they gave me. Which means, I did it once in front of them and they gave me a handout. Needless to say, I was stressing pretty hard about doing this for the next 10+ days!

In addition to the picc line, we also had to flush her drain and measure the nasty, infected output once a day. Gross...TMI...but it smelt awful. (Grandma and Grandpa: TMI stands for "too much information".)

The days at home were long. I felt like I had a newborn again. Lucy slept awful. It was like she was having night terrors or something. I debated if she was traumatized by the hospital or if she was in pain. Without her being able to talk, your guess is as good as mine. We had to set an alarm to get up around 5:15 am to set out the antibiotic. Day and night were no longer differentiated.

Heath and I were stressed. We were getting on each other's cases. Through all of this, we internalized a lot of our pain. We rarely hugged or patted each other on the back. We forgot to comfort each other. You feel so much like you are the one who needs comforting that you forget that someone else does too. Heath felt it just as much as me. It was difficult to remember.

Thursday came. Lucy was going to get her drain out. Whew! One tube gone and one less thing to worry about. We made the trip to Omaha again, to Dr. A's office. I liked Dr. A. He was comforting. He was real with us. He treated us like real people and not just another face.

Dr. A entered the room. We somewhat dreaded getting the drain out, because of the pain Lucy would feel. But, we looked forward to her being able to run around without tripping on the bag.  The drain came out with ease. No problems there. However, Dr. A had some additional information for us.

"The abscess culture came back. I was expecting to see, well, poop, with the appendicitis. The only bug we saw was....staph."

After the initial shock of hearing "staph", Heath and I gather a few questions in our mind. "How did she get it? So, it isn't appendicitis? How do we know for sure that it wasn't her appendix? What now? How do we explain all of these appendicitis type symptoms?"

Dr. A had no idea how Lucy got a staph infection. Neither did we. Apparently we have staph all over our bodies all the time; it isn't like she got it from someone else. He was pretty sure that it wasn't appendicitis now. Staph commonly settles in the iliopsoas muscle (a muscle that runs from your spine down the right-side of your leg, right next to the appendix). I say commonly, because in adults this is common. Common for Lucy's age? Nope. It is even rarer than appendicitis. Dr. A compared it to getting struck by lighting.

He said he was pretty sure that it was just staph and not appendicitis. Therefore, he recommended that we not go on with the surgery to get Lucy's appendix out. He actually said, "If it was my daughter...(30 second pause)..I'd ride it out."  This didn't exactly provide us with the peace of mind we wanted. We apparently just had to monitor Lucy closely, just in case it was the appendix.

Stressful.

Our minds were reeling. What just happened? Everything we thought we knew was out the window. We were told to continue to the antibiotics per usual and then get the picc line out a week later.

The days continued the same. On Sunday, Heath was administering the antibiotics. When he started the machine, Lucy started coughing and almost gasping for air. Her face turned instantly red and her lips turned blue. Heath yelled for me to come closer. My mind went blank and all I could yell was, "Turn it off!" My heart was sinking. I was trying so hard to remember the rules to infant CPR.

Within a few seconds of turning it off, the color came back to her lips and she was breathing normal. Her face remained dark red. I shakily dialed the number to our local home health care. The nurse, who I didn't know, told me to try the antibiotics again. Yeah, no. So, I called Childrens. Thankfully Dr. A was on call that weekend! I was able to speak with him directly. He said to leave it off and to clamp the picc line back. We would switch to oral antibiotics. He suspected something was wrong with the picc line "mechanics."

That moment was excruciatingly scary. But, we were happy to be done with that damn picc line!

We scheduled a time to go in on Tuesday to get the picc line out - two days before we were originally scheduled. We, again, looked forward to the visit. We wanted all of this to be over. Dr. A took out the picc line with just a snip of a stitch and a tug. He looked and it was clogged. We were basically expanding the tube and blocking her blood flow. Scary. Scary. Scary.

Dr. A took another look at Lucy's abscess site and how it was healing. There was some obvious swelling. It even looked bigger than last time, in Lucy's groin area. He told us to expect the lymph nodes to swell a bit. We were to call him if it got red or if she got a fever. We discussed again the possibility of this all being her appendix. He stuck to his same recommendation. He felt pretty confident that it was just staph.

On the way home, we scheduled an appointment with our doctor, Dr. B. We really, really trust her. We wanted her opinion on the appendix vs. the only staph idea. She told us that the appendix rupture would have included some type of e. coli in the culture results. This culture didn't have that; so, she was pretty certain that this was only staph. She said the only confusion for them was how the heck did Lucy get this? Ditto.

We left her office with the weight off of our shoulders. It was a sunny day and this thing was behind us. We now just had to finish her oral antibiotics on Saturday and we were done...or so we thought.

- To Be Continued -