We're in isolation.

The doctors suspect that Punkin might have MRSA (methicillin-resistant staph infection), so she's stuck in isolation at the hospital until the tests come back. Luckily that means that we have a room to ourselves with two beds (so maybe when she's resting I can rest some too). Still, I wish she weren't in isolation - that means she's separated from other kids with eczema like her, and she *needs* to see that she's not the only one. Oh well - maybe we'll be out in a couple of days. They've taken scrapings of the really bad spots on Punkin to have them tested.

Isolation means that every time I go out of the room I have to be robed and gloved. I had a choice - glove/robe every time I leave the room, or glove/robe while I'm in the room. The latter is not practical, so I chose the former.

They know it's Punkin's birthday today, though, so they tried to still make it special. One of the nurses put up a sign on our inner door for the birthday girl, and she got some extra special presents from the gift/reward closet. Even though it's her birthday, Punkin still is happy to be here - I think she's ready for some relief, as is mommy. I can't believe my baby turns 9 today.

Our nurse's name is Murray. She's a gruff one, but you can tell she's a sweetheart underneath. I can tell that she's not going to take any flack from Punkin - which is a good thing. Also met one of the P.A.'s (Elizabeth), who took a detailed history. Man it's hard to remember all the little details about stuff when you're put on the spot and asked a million questions! Hopefully I gave them a good picture of what Punkin has endured all these years.

Punkin had her first soaking bath/wet wrap today - actually, she had three today. I understand there'll be three a day for several days, then it'll taper to two. She soaks in a bath for 20 minutes then gets slathered head to toe with steroids. Scary. Then she puts on a layer of warm, damp cotton jammies, with warm/damp tube socks on her hands and feet, then dry layers on top. And she stays that way for 2-3 hours. We've been doing this at home, but judging from what I've seen today, we haven't used enough steroid ointment and we haven't done it often enough.

There's a cute little girl in the room next to us - hopefully we can get to know them.

We were supposed to spend the night tonight so the nursing staff could see how Punkin sleeps (not well, I can tell you). They couldn't reach our insurance company, so we're at the hotel tonight - hopefully they can do the sleep study tomorrow night.

It was an exhausting day, so I'm headed to bed soon - Punkin is already asleep.