Return to the Hospital

Sunday afternoon, Tara's family brought a wonderful brunch. It was so good to see the kids playing together outside, laughing, taking rides in 'cruckie' (Henry really never gets tired of it) We all caught up with each other and ate wonderful food and enjoyed the day. It was nice to be around so much family.

We were showered with more gifts. The generosity and care of the people around us, both family and friends, has been touching. Henry has received so much that he adopts a new favorite stuffed animal almost daily. His current favorite is a little penguin from a friend of his Granya's. Baskets of gifts from coworkers and from family members - and their coworkers - for the girls, care items for Tara and me - and the messages of hope that continue to come like waves. The things are helpful, but the message that is sent with them is so important to our well being right now. We have difficulty expressing the depths of our appreciation to you all.

Sunday afternoon, after the last of family, neighbors, and old friends had left, Tara, Henry and I packed up for a return to the Children's House. Henry thought the play area was terrific. He mostly enjoyed being pushed around their basement area in an old fashioned pedal firetruck. (imagine that!?) We ate dinner provided us by volunteers from the university and headed to bed. It was at this point Henry began to catch on. He slept restlessly through the night and we had to awake early to be at surgery check-in.

We played for a while in the surgery waiting area. In order to calm him down enough for sedation, they gave him a drug that made him a little punchy. It was certainly better than having to hold him down for the mask - not fun...

The surgery was mostly uneventful, although afterwards they decided to hold Henry for overnight observation. There was a slight abnormality on the post operation x-ray that the doctors were concerned about - likely nothing. Tara and I learned to flush his central line to prevent clotting, which we'll have to do daily during his stretches at home. A little nerve wracking for me, I'm so afraid he'll yank that thing right out of his chest the first chance he gets and I'm afraid I'm going to be so paranoid about infection that it'll drive everyone crazy.

So I came home tonight at Tara's urging, thinking that her visiting parents would be able to bring her home in the event that Henry would be released this evening. In the end they're still at the hospital overnight, hoping for an early release in the morning. We were hoping for one hospital-free day this week, but I guess that just not in the cards.