Home

Home.

There's not much more to say. We're glad to be home.

The day started with the wait for the doctors to do rounds. As expected, Ben got the go-ahead for discharge. Then the discharge process began, which lasted several hours. Our nurse Christina and the CVN Emily were great with trying to keep things moving.

The big thing was getting the two monitors that Ben wore home. One is a 24 hour monitor to give the doctors a report of the first day out of the hospital. The other is one that he will wear for a month to monitor him for any incidents of heart block. Both are considered precautions.

We were all packed and ready to go. I had cleaned out my room at Ronald McDonald house and we were waiting. At about 1:30 p.m. we were literally heading out the door, and I was helping Ben tie his shoes when he had a gagging spell and vomited. Well, that immediately suspended the discharge while they had Ben eat something and show that he could keep it down for an hour. We got him to eat part of a pbj and drink some Gatorade and he met the criteria. We finally left just before 3:00 p.m.

Ben was very enthusiastic about heading home. He was commenting on all of the sights and sounds of the city on our way out the Kennedy. Fortunately traffic was not too bad. We arrived home in about an hour.

He was so excited to get home that as soon as we pulled in the driveway, he threw the door open and started climbing out. I had to slow him down so that I could pull up to the sidewalk. Once we did get out he wanted to run up the sidewalk. Whoa there young man!! He was so eager to get to his own bed, and so tired at that point, that he even tried taking the stairs two at a time!

Clearly we are all happy to be home. Obviously it will take some time for him to get his appetite back, but we'll encourage him with small steps. Now the work of finding a good pace of life at home for healing begins.

It's my turn to fill in as choir director at Highland Avenue Church of the Brethren for a few weeks, so I was able to go to rehearsal tonight. Singing the music of faith is tremendously healing. While my body is pretty much exhausted, my spirit was once again lifted up by the reminders of God's love and care, and by being in the presence of part of our church family.

Now, for sleep - in my own bed!