Recovery: Day 9: Home! Sort of...

We were released from the hospital at about 1:30 pm. We got our post-op instructions: Justin is not allowed to go swimming for 6 weeks, jump rope for 8 weeks, or carry a backpack for 12 weeks. I hope I remember! We had our prescriptions filled, we made a withdrawal from the milk bank, and we were on our way! We said good-bye to good old 1528, and to our favorite nurse, Tamara. She was our nurse both times, the false start and the real thing when we arrived on 15 and when we left. We did tell her that we hope never to see her again, except maybe at the grocery store!

Where to, that was the question. We checked out the medical apartments, and they don't have any power, so we headed to my sister's apartment. Justin was just happy to be somewhere other than where he would be poked and prodded. And he was happy to play with his brother. Plus he liked having his right thumb back after they took out the last IV.

We had to take a bath to get all of the sticky off, which wasn't much fun, but it tired him out enough that he went right to sleep. So Justin is in the pack and play, Randy and I have Mireille's bed, Travis has the big chair with the ottoman at the end, Nana has the couch, and Mireille is on an air mattress in the living room. That leaves just enough room for everyone to get to the bathroom at night. I hope this isn't TOO long term, but we heard from a neighbor that the estimate for our neighborhood is sometime after Monday to get power.

Here is an after picture of Justin. The incision looks really good. The 2 drainage tube holes have stitches, so they still stick out. (Travis said that Justin has spiders on his stomach!) and there are 2 smaller spots above the drainage holes; one was the pacing wires and the other was the LA line directly into his heart. He is looking so good; it's hard to believe that it has only been 9 days since surgery.

There are a lot of sick children left on 15, including several heart transplants. Please keep them in your prayers as they have a long road ahead. There will be lots of problems as children are ready to be released, but have nowhere to go. Or need nursing care, but the nurses have no gas. Or have medicines requiring refrigeration, and no power to cool. God protected us through the storm, but for many children at TCH, their storm has only begun. We are one of the "lucky" ones. We are one of the blessed ones.