Honestly, I've found that tile - especially the cheap kind from hardware stores that you glue to the floor - work the best for me. Sure you have to wipe the waste up with a rag (Or, I've got some cleaning wipes that I use) and disinfect the floor every so often, but I tend to have to do that anyway, because my ig shreds newspaper and paper towels. With a replaceable tile, you can just pull it up and get new tile when you need to without much expense.
Substrate is a neat area, because everyone has a different opinion on what they want for their cage. Some want a more natural vivarium - so use things like soil. Others look for ease of care, so use tile or newspaper or something else that's safe for their animal and easy to clean.
In general, I recommend starting out with newspaper or paper towels, especially when the animal is recovering from sickness or injury. Once you've got everything set up and you've got a handle on what involved in the maintenance, then you can more accurately see if you want to change it to something more complicated.
By the way, you're doing great with this. No one expects you to have everything right over night. One thing at a time is the best way to go. Please do keep us updated on your poor sick baby.
