Home Again, Home Again ... Now the Real Work Begins

On Wednesday evening I began to hear comments about Tre' possibly coming home on Thursday.  The hospitalist was fine with his progress (vitals, overall wound care, etc.) but the orthopedic surgeon wouldn't be in until Thursday afternoon to give the final approval. Additionally, physical therapy was very satisfied with his progress with his sitting up.  An early release was auspicious but, I knew better. Tre' had an unexpected hospitalization back in November and I had a series of heartbreaks when I was told that he would be released, only for the release to be delayed not one, not two, but three times.  I decided to be like Mother Mary and "ponder those things in my heart" until I was actually signing discharge papers.

Banana Pediasure is king

Thursday morning Tre' woke up and said he was ready to eat - I was elated! I ordered his breakfast (cream of wheat) with applesauce and trotted merrily to the cafeteria to get a banana for his cereal.  Now, anyone who knows my child is well-aware of his infatuation with bananas.  I don't know if it's a generational thing (my paternal side of the family, the Smiths kept bananas on deck at all times) but this kid has a "banana jones" - bananas to eat, bananas in the cereal, banana ice cream, banana Pediasure - when you have a kid on the Autism spectrum with eating issues, and you find they like a particular food, you tend to go overboard with it.  In any event, I was mortified when I got to the cafeteria and was told that there were no more bananas - in the entire hospital! 😞 Mommy panic turned into mommy guilt as I realized I should have brought some with me when we came.  Lordt.  Rather than go through the trouble of having him refuse the meal I decided to start with applesauce.  Kris Tibbs taught me about the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) diet many years ago, and since this was his first meal in a few days, applesauce was a safe choice.  He scarfed it down happily and had a banana Pediasure.  Mission accomplished.

Singing like Mary Mary, "I'm walking, I'm walking, I'm walking ..."

He wasn't happy about the steps. 
Whatever boy, get up those steps so we can go home.

The PT room was financed through a generous donation from
Ryan Kerrigan of the Washington Redskins.

Physical therapy came again, and the realization that hard work was his key to exiting must have kicked in because the boy was moving!  He passed his 100 feet walking goal, walking from his room halfway to the PT room.  He also passed his goal of walking up and down the steps.  With both of these goals accomplished, PT released him from care, and we were one step closer to walking out of the door.  Next came occupational therapy, ensuring that we positioned him correctly when transferring home and that he had exercises to help him reach above his head so he could get back to baseline with self-dressing and self-care. After a positive session, we were released from OT.

Ready to remove the drain

I decided to take some laps around the floor to get my steps in.  I had been doing a lot of sitting and laying around the room.  It felt good to get moving.  But of course, as soon as I left the room, I missed the surgeon! 😳 As I took a lap around, I spotted her ponytail walking away from Tre's room.  Of no you don't lady!  "Dr. Kelly!" I called.  She didn't hear me.  I walked faster, just below a run.  "Dr. Kelly!"  I knew I looked like a mad woman, a stalker even?  Hopefully, I wouldn't get tackled by security - that would not be a good look. 😂 She heard my voice this time and turned around. "Oh hey, we missed you in the room, do you want to go back and talk?"  (Please, I've been waiting for this conversation since last night!) "Sure," I answered hopefully.  We returned to his room, and she told me that everything looked good.  They actually like to get nonsick kids out of the hospital as soon as they can because the longer you're in the hospital it increases your chances of getting sick.  The plan was to take the drain out of his back, seal the wound, and see if it leaks.  If it did not leak, we would go home that day.  If it did, he would have to stay another day.  So the hospitalist took the drain out, and we waited.

Auntie Lex comes to visit!

The Pike boys are always camera ready - they have had lots of training!

We were happy to be visited by my good friend Alexis and her two boys, Malachi and Aiden.  Lex and I were able to catch up while the boys sat and entertained themselves. Auntie Tanya felt compelled to offer the boys some snacks - they made me happy and obliged. Then they were more than willing to take pictures with Tre' - so sweet!  The boys were a welcomed distraction and helped the time move quickly.

Finally, the nurse practitioner came back - the area near the drain was dry, and we were cleared to go home!  I don't think I have ever packed my bags so fast!  I texted hubby to tell him we were on the way home.  He called me back immediately to confirm - "Do my eyes deceive me?" he asked, laughingly.  "Nope!" I answered we are on our way!  We briefly tried to synchronize our departure with his picking up our other son from rehearsal not too far from the hospital, but we quickly discarded that optimistic feat.  We decided to wing it and let it play out.

Wall art inside the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU)

Our nurse (one of PGCPS' very own) brought a cart to load all of my things on, but I had one final assignment.  My aunt, who used to teach at a local private school, contacted me about the grandchild of a former teacher's assistant of hers.  The baby was at children's awaiting a major surgery next week.  She was in the Cardiac Critical Care Unit, was four months old, and was a twin.  Auntie asked if I could visit with the baby/parents and pray with the family.  When the beloved auntie who lives in Arizona puts you on assignment, you make sure it gets done!  Plus, you all know how much I love babies.  Between trips to the pharmacy to pick up Tre's medications, I was able to visit the little one and her daddy.  She had the sweetest little face!  I attempted o comfort Dad by telling him of our time spent at Children's 15 years ago.  He said they knew of her heart ailment while she was still in utero.  They prayed for a miracle but didn't get it, but at least they still had her.  I assured him that he did, in fact, have his miracle, but as I have witnessed with my own children, miracles don't always come in the form or timeframe that we expect or want them to come.  Most are not instantaneous, some take years to manifest.  He smiled and nodded in agreement.  I put one hand on his shoulder, another on the baby's tiny little foot, and prayed for the baby, her surgeons, her twin sister, and her parents - that their marriage would be healthy and able to withstand this difficult time.  He thanked me, and I told him I was looking forward to hearing about her progress and surgery outcome.

With my assignment completed, I returned to the room, signed papers, dressed the boy, and marched him right to the elevators and to my minivan.  Our nurse assisted with getting the things to the car (remember I had that primo parking space?)  I thanked her and started the car, appreciative of the complimentary parking pass given to us by the concierge.  As I left the parking lot and turned onto Michigan Avenue, Greg called me.  It turned out he was two cars behind me! After a quick detour to CVS to pick up one last prescription and hitting a drive-thru for dinner, we arrived safely at home.  Daddy came to the car to scoop up his baby boy and usher him into the house.  "Littlebig" brother Quinton and Aunt Neta were so happy to have him home.  Exhausted, I mustered the energy to bring in all the bags and our additional equipment.  It will be a long road to recovery, but being home and able to sleep in my own bed made those thoughts irrelevant.  While sitting on my couch, I felt all my stresses melt away.  For so many other procedures, things had not gone the way that we planned and additional time in the hospital or near-fatal circumstances presented themselves. We have endured sepsis, elevated heart rate, extreme hypertension, and a blood transfusion to name a few. Not this time.  This time we were home and the procedure and estimated recovery had gone even better than we had planned.  Praise God!