We are home,

but it certainly didn't come easy. We just experienced possibly our most frustrating hospital departure yet. Surgeon said we could go if we got cardiology and anesthesiology approval. So we got cardiology and anesthesiology approval. We were told we could leave at 4:30, after Elijah's last dose of IV antibiotics. At 4:15 the nurse came in and said that Surgeon wasn't satisfied with the cardiology approval because HE didn't hear the words himself (personally I think it was because it was a WOMAN who approved it...). He wanted to hear it with his own ears and wouldn't let us leave till he did. By this time, practically everyone was gone from the clinic, so we sat and waited for a cardiologist to call this man. And we waited. All because Surgeon didn't trust what he had heard apparently?? Finally, a(nother) well-respected cardiologist (who happened to be male) called to say, YES, Elijah can go home now, and Surgeon was satisfied. It most definitely would NOT have been in the best interest of Elijah to spend the night there, and everyone knew that. Dan and I were closer than we've ever been to removing our son's IV ourselves and running from the building. We were both on the brink of totally losing it and exploding.


After he woke up, he was a crabby man. He cried for quite a while but we knew he wasn't in pain. He just wanted those people in blue shirts to leave the room. Once they did, we set up the laptop with Veggie Tales and he was in heaven. Veggie Tales pulls through again!

Despite that drama and stress, Elijah did an amazing job, and we are home, and all in one piece. Thank you, GOD!! Elijah is really sore and really really swollen and bruised, but that will heal. He is still gunky and coughing and congested. When I put him down to sleep in his crib he refused to let go of my neck. Stupid hospital, scarring my sweet boy. I'm pretty certain he will be rolling around on his very sore spots through the night, so it might be a sleepless one. Dan and I got little to no sleep last night, so I'm sure we'll be even worse off tomorrow. Oh well, that's the price we pay for making sure our precious little boy is well cared for. It's so worth it. I'd do it over and over again every single day if I had to. That kid amazes me. His strength, his tolerance of...everything, his endless happiness, his resiliency, it all amazes me.


Ok, so we were told after his last heart surgery not to EVER expect high 90s sats. They thought he'd settle right around 90-95% because he still has a tiny residual hole between his atriums that is mixing a tiny bit of blood. Well...look at the monitor! 100%! It was at 97-100% all day. This makes me so happy! I think a tear rolled down my cheek when I looked up and saw 100%.

We are going to chill for a bit and then head to bed. We're treating ourselves to Chinese food tonight. Yummmmm.

Please pray for no infections, and a continued good recovery for this sweet little boy of ours. Oh, and good rest!! Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers today.

p.s. Despite my harsh words and feelings toward Surgeon, I AM grateful for the excellent work he did on our son. I just find myself wondering why everyone can't have wonderful knowledge AND bedside manner, like the rest of our doctors do. Oh well, what can we do.