Home!!! Home!!! Home!!!

After 16 days, 30 hours of uncontrolled vomiting, a hugely distended stomach, one emergency operation, an infection that followed, 2 CT scans, Christmas on the 8th floor of Children's Hospital, a central line, and a picc line, we are FINALLY home.


(Balloons from one of Max's classmates who has written to check on him almost every day!)

They were going to discharge us today, but Steve asked if we could go home yesterday instead. It gave us a full evening and a day with Abbey at home before she had to go back to her mother's. It was great to all be together for at least one night before she had to go back.



We got home and got to work on picking up the mess that was our living space. When you're in for long stays, coming home and dropping off dirty clothes, and picking up clean ones gets a little hectic. Mail unopened and opened is all over the place. A few dirty dishes, and piles and piles and piles of laundry met us. Add on top of that the bags of things we brought home with Max, and it was a bit crazy.

But, we had to make way for more stuff. The home health company was to bring his IV antibiotics, and all of the supplies, along with meeting his nurse who would oversee the initial administering of the drugs, and come back periodically while he's on IV antibiotics at home.

(This is SOME of the stuff dropped off last night.)

Abbey just wanted Indian food. Nearly 2 weeks here, and a whole lot of eating out, I think we were all ready for some home cooked food. And as it turned out, I ALWAYS have the makings of curry, so she lucked out. I threw dinner together in about 30 minutes, and we ate it up before the nurse came.

Once the nurse got here, we went over tons of papers and then gave him his meds. We learned how to flush the IV and do a heperin lock while we were in the hospital, but we didn't know what kind of pump we would be using. We didn't get a pump at all, we got these neat little gadgets that once the clasp is undone, the balloon inside holding the medicine starts to deflate and the medicine travels through the tubing into his picc line. So low-tech, and so cool!


We still have him on continuous tube feeding, which is not his normal, but we are trying to get him used to eating after almost two weeks of IV fluids. So, working slowly to get back to what he's used to. He's doing well with it, but the continuous feeding gives him so many bubbles in his gut, so we have to vent him a lot more than usual.


Max is still not 100%, but he's feeling better. The past 2 days he's stayed awake for most of the day, and today has sat up in a chair for most of the day. He's still pale, and not as strong as he was before he got sick. But, he's back to talking with us, and he had fun playing with some of his new Christmas presents he got to open once we got home. His big gift definitely did not disappoint. He sat with Daddy and Abbey and played for 30 minutes on his new drum.



Steve's at the airport with Abbey now, and we'll spend the rest of the week getting back to normal here, and ringing in the new year at home. We have several follow up appointments next week, and hopefully will be able to discontinue to antibiotics after the CT scan next Wednesday.

Now it's time to hold my giant guy, because he's not so sure about this staying awake all day gig. And, now that we can hold on to each other again without so many tubes and wires, we're taking full advantage of it.