Recovery Day 14...

means a full two weeks since the transplant. Ian is doing well. He walked to and from the ultrasound again this morning and was a pretty good sleeper last night. Perhaps a little too good as he pooped into his pants again. :( We did get a bit of good news today. It is possible that we'll be discharged on Friday (we'll need to stay local still). We'll know for sure on Friday. :) At this point, we would be grateful to get out next Monday, but the doctors said today there is nothing that he needs here that he cannot get through outpatient visits. That's great news to us. Ian would get his staples out in one week upon a return for clinic visits. The only real question for us will be how to handle things with me going back to Charleston to work at some point soon. I guess that's something for us to decide on very soon.

Ian had the IV from his left arm removed today, and it was replaced with a PICC line. The central line in his neck will be removed either tomorrow or Friday. He was very good for most of this, and it didn't hurt that he was given some medicine. It made him pretty loopy, which was pretty funny for a good chunk of the afternoon. Then the medicine started to wear off. They had warned us that it could make him a bit grumpy as he came off, but I don't think anyone expected that side of Ian to ever show up. It was classic evil-spirit-type possession. I kept expecting his head to spin around 360 degrees a few times. Hopefully that side of him never returns. It was pretty miserable. I kept trying to get him to sleep it off, but that wasn't to be. He is sleeping now, at least.

As I reflect back on this year, it has been quite full for my little family. We looked for and finally found a new job. We moved to Charleston. Livia was conceived and born. Ian received his transplant. I think we accomplished most of what we thought we would as a family, but some of my personal goals didn't quite get met. I think the same holds true for Elaine, but that's for her to ultimately determine. About this time last year, we began to realize that the waiting and all of that was the 'normal' way of life for us. We had finally adjusted. Now we have to adjust to a new way of life again. We aren't waiting anymore. We will now be in the thick of helping Ian to get through the critical first year. I am excited for that new challenge. It is intriguing to me that every time we reach a comfort zone, we are pulled from it by a new challenge. It is exciting and frightening all at the same time. There are times I wonder if I'm strong enough to get through it all. Elaine has expressed the same line of thinking. Then I look at my kids, and I know that there is nothing I wouldn't do for them. I believe that a very large majority of parents feel the same way.

Happy New Year to everyone, and I pray this finds you well and that perhaps some of my experiences can be of some help to you as you go through life. Remember that there are no challenges, just opportunities to grow and achieve new strengths!