Home again, Home again, Jiggity Jig!

We are home!

No more masks, no more IVs, no more beeping, no more food trays, no more medical students, no more labs, no more x-rays, no more asking for permission to get medicine, no more waiting all day for the doctor, no more stuck inside, no more interruptions!

We are home - surrounded by people and things that heals a heart!

I took this picture right before we left the hospital. That smile and the sparkles in his eyes speak volumes!

We were discharged around 4pm yesterday.  Our last day out the hospital was relatively peaceful.

I was hopeful we would go home but experience has taught me that you never know you're actually leaving until you have discharge papers in hand.

Yesterday morning, I woke up at 2am with Bennett crying in pain. They had stopped his Tramadol again due to slowed breathing during the night.  So, he was given pain medicine as soon as we asked. I went back to sleep to wake up only 2 hours later to his crying again in pain.  A dose of Hycet made him feel better.  Throughout the day he still needed consistent pain meds.

I was a little disappointed that he seemed to need pain meds more than the day before, since we had had such a good day Tuesday.  But when I told our Pediatric Surgeon that I was disappointed, she said, "oh, don't worry about that.  It's totally normal."  She went on to explain that recovery often works like that: as the patient feels better, they will attempt do do things they wouldn't normally...and then they will often hurt more the next day.  She explained it's part of the process and that this was the very reason she wanted to see Bennett to stay home from school one more week.  Often kids will go to school and forget they need to be careful so that, by days end, they are in a lot of pain.

We waited all day to see the doctor and get the green light to go.  I have found that the more critical of a patient you are, the earlier in the morning the doctors come by.  But the less critical you are, the later they seem to come.  That isn't much fun to anxiously wait all day to be discharged but I was so tired I just packed up and sat around.

We didn't get the thumbs up until after lunch.  But then, after we had packed up all of our stuff (which was enough to fill two little red wagons), Bennett went to the potty and we found a good bit of fresh blood in his stool.

This is the view outside our window into the hallway.  Because we were on reverse isolation, we had to always keep our door closed.  So, I stood here many times looking out past the words that the nurses placed on the window to decorate the door.  The "Quiet Time 1-3pm" sign across the hall made for hospital guests to take note was interesting to see as I would have much rather it have said, "Quiet Time 1-3am" and been for the nurses. ;)

Concerned, I told the nurse who told the resident who told the chief resident who told the Pediatric Surgeon.  Ultimately, everyone agreed that the blood was not concerning.  But is was worth everyone paying attention since Bennett has complained of rectal pain for so long and since he had surgery on his colon.

Finally, we got in the car and took off for home.  Until halfway home, the hospital called.  I thought they were concerned about the blood and wanted me to turn around (which God himself would have had to come down from heaven and forced my van to around at this point).  It was Bennett's nurse that was calling.   Thankfully, it wasn't about the blood, it was about Bennett's Vest...that I had forgotten.  :::Face palm:::

I told her I was headed home and I wouldn't be turning around.  I explained I would come tomorrow or Saturday.  (One could be proud of me for not telling her I was never coming back!) 

So, I will go pick up Bennett's Vest today or tomorrow.  Thankfully, we have the AffloVest that we are able to use until then.

Home has been a wonderful place to be.  Avonlea and Bennett have had the best time together. Bennett was delighted to find several packages that had come in the mail for him.  Brian and I were incredibly touched to find several meals that had come in the mail as well.

Besides seeing my children laugh and play with each other again...and besides being able to go to sleep in my own bed early last night...one of my greatest moments last night was: getting a home-cooked meal, especially when they are served on paper plates that we could just throw away.

No need to prepare a meal and no need to wash dishes - both are gifts from friends near and far who have indicated they are with us in this journey.

This meal is one of the one of the meals mailed to us from dear friends who used the website "Take Them A Meal".  Meals from "Take Them A Meal" apparently show up frozen and ready to put in the oven and come with a card that state directions and offer a picture of the meal.  This meal was delicious!

I am so thankful for the meals we have been given as they have already and will continue to allow us to focus on being with each other, not taking care of dinner each night.

I am also thankful for the grocery supplies that have been dropped off while we were in the hospital - supplies such as toilet paper, milk, paper plates and plastic silverware.  Not having to worry about washing dishes or running to the store for the basics after being in the hospital is like feeling like you've won the lottery (especially when we ran out of toilet paper this morning)!

We have had friends send such creative things that have filled gaps we didn't even know we had.  We are thankful for friends who have offered to drop off Starbucks, who have sent gifts to the children, who have sent gift cards or have picked up our children and allowed them to play at their houses.

It's so hard to ask for help but the overwhelming love and support have made asking for help when we have needed it just a little bit easier.

I asked Bennett a few minutes ago, "I am so glad we are home. What did you miss at the hospital?"

He thought I said 'what do you miss about the hospital'.  His face dropped all expression and he answered, "nothing."

Realizing he had misunderstood me, I said, "No, I said, what did you miss about home while you were at the hospital?"

He said, "I missed being together.  I missed old my toys.  And I missed the noise.  Being at the hospital is quiet and that is lonely."

Then, he interjected, "...but that's what Daddy said home was like.  Daddy said it was quiet here without me."

So, cheers to noise of home - the laughing, the crying, the banging, the shouting.  Home is where my heart is.