Wow, it has been a whirlwind week. First the surgery, then the recovery, then we found out early Saturday morning that they were sending us home. I was changing the oil in one of our cars and Kate called and said, "you might want to get in the shower...they are kicking us out of here in about an hour." That was at around 9:00 in the morning, we finally left the
PICU (yes, they kept us in the
PICU the whole time because the
Peds floor filled up...yeah community shower room!!) at around 4:00 in the afternoon. I wish I could get away with those kind of "ballpark" estimates at my job. I could write a 1,000 page dissertation on why the
neo unit is better than the
peds unit at Spectrum Health, but it is one of those "if you don't have anything good to say" type of things. So I rushed up to the hospital, packed all of our stuff up, took as much stuff as I could to the car (via a really sweet Radio
Flyer wagon), only to find out we weren't going anywhere for about 5 hours. To top it all off, the hospital does not have ESPN2, and on Saturday, that meant no Michigan football...just
MSU football. Needless to say, that couple of hours was BORING!! Anyway, we finally left and went down to visit Max for a while. It was fun to have the two boys "together" again. I say "together" because now that Wes has left the
NICU, he is as dirty as the rest of us, and therefore would need to where a gown and gloves. It is easier for one of us to stand outside "the line" and hold Wes while the other visits with Max. We tried to get them to look at each other, and I think they might have at one point, but Kate thought they were just both looking at the ever-so-popular
rain forest mobile.
So, after a full day of having Wes home, things are going really well. He is on a good schedule and has been sleeping very well. When I "fed" him last night at 2:00, he never even acknowledged that I was there. That is one benefit to the G-tube: unsnap the sleeper (I think that is what they are called), plug the little tube thingy in, and away you go. I will try and post a picture of the whole operation soon, I know visuals are very useful.
Max has had an okay week. No big changes really. His blood gases have been pretty good, but his oxygen needs continue to be erratic. Not as wild as they have been in weeks past, but anywhere from 40 - 60%. His demeanor continues to be very good and he has started to smile quite a bit (at least for his Dad!!). The only treatment for Max right now is time. He needs to grow. It is possible that his lungs can grow and develop to the point where the pulmonary hypertension will not be such an issue. It is our prayer that this will happen very quickly.
The boys are 6-months old today. Half a year of this crazy life. 6-months of driving to GR, parking in Parking Lot 7, riding in the elevator that says, "Welcome to the Spectrum Health Medical Center. when you exit the elevator, turn left and proceed to the end of the elevator lobby. The Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center is on your left, and the Butterworth Hospital and the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital is to your right. Please see the attendants at any of the Information Desks for directions." But now Wes is home, and we cannot wait until his big brother can come home too.
