I teared up this afternoon while we were walking out of Children's Hospital. This time was not because we were leaving Max again. I cried because today was the start of our new life. After 2 weeks in the hospital, Max was discharged.
It felt like the first time we brought him home from the hospital a year and a half ago. We had to have a little "class" with the transplant coordinator and doctors on Max's new medications and how/when to give them. The whole discharge process went a lot quicker than I was expecting. Before I knew it we were on our way out the door with our new medications in hand and our follow up appointments scheduled.
We are so glad to be home and all under one roof. Max is thriving and enjoying his new freedom. He got home and immediately wanted to eat. This is all very new to us so we sat him in his seat and fed him. We then sat down for our steak dinner and Max wanted to sit with us and eat as well, so we let him. I can't get over the changes that he has made in the short 2 weeks since surgery. It's crazy to think that everything that he is delayed in was all due to his lack of functioning kidneys. I absolutely love seeing his new tricks and I can't wait to see what else he has in store.
Now that we are home, we are trying to get Max's new med schedule and routine figured out. We still have to care for his vesicostomy, so our nightly routine still isn't as easy as it could be, but we do not have to do anything with his dialysis. This means no more blood pressures, weights, shots, machine prep or hook up which took our bedtime routine from an hour to about 15 minutes. He is no longer needing oxygen which means that he is not hooked up to anything at night. He went from having 3-4 tubes/wires connected to him every night to zero. I have to say, it felt weird just laying him in bed, kissing him goodnight and turning the lights off. I felt like we were forgetting to do something, but this is our new norm and I love it.
I got teary eyed leaving the hospital today, because today is the first day of our new life. Today- we get to be a "normal" family for the first time since before Max was born. Today is the start of our new life and we are going to grab it by the horns and live the heck out of it.
5 comments:
So happy for you and your "new" life!
You were at wits ends with the old one and now that you are on the other side of that and have it behind you, must be a tremendous relief.
Congrats! Keep up the good work and enjoy the "new" Max!
DS/BBHS
I got teary-eyed just reading your post. You have been through so many ups and downs over the past 2 1/2 years, that if this didn't feel weird to you, I might be a little worried. Have fun with the new version of Max. As I've said before, it is amazing to hear what kind of changes a functioning kidney has had on Max. Take care!
Kristen H.
Hallelujah!!!
So, so, so very happy for all of you!
Yay!
So very happy for your family!
If you are ever in need of something to blog about, do you mind explaining a little more about how his not functioning kidneys were the cause of so many other issues? I noticed in your post the other day you mentioned many things that were immediately different after surgery, and then you mentioned it again in this post. I would just be interested to hear how so much immediately changed after the surgery, and I guess the "why" (if you know how to explain that).
So unbelievably happy for you and your family. This "new" life is going to be great. It's wonderful the leaps Max is taking. Enjoy every moment and know you deserve it!
A. Davidson
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