Home Sweet Home

Zachary is home again, our family is reunited, and we are loving it!  Actually, I'm already getting fed up with Sammy's whining, with the bigger boys' fighting, with the mess... but it's WONDERFUL to be dealing with normal things again.

Zachary is still in some pain on and off, usually as his pain meds are wearing off.  He is not quite himself; we don't see as many smiles yet and he is very clingy.  But he will get there!  Zachary is taking Tylenol and Motrin for pain, with an occasional dose of oxycodone.  He is back on diuretics (Lasix and Aldactone) to keep fluid from building around his lungs and throughout his body, easing the workload on his heart.  Over the course of the next year he will wean off his diuretics.  The only other med he is taking is aspirin, which thins the blood to prevent clotting.  He will take aspirin for the rest of his life.

Zachy is very fearful and suspicious of strangers, especially young, pretty girls, who look like they might be nurses!  This morning he visits his pediatrician to get his chest tube stitches removed, and I can only imagine the fit he will throw!  But really, who can blame him?  The hospital was a very traumatic experience for him, especially at this age.  He could not understand why he was there, why he was in pain and being poked and prodded by so many strangers.  He had no idea why he was not at home with his brothers, why so many tubes and wires were hooked up to him, why we were forcing yucky medicine down his throat every couple of hours.  It was all extremely scary.  My hope is that he was comforted by the one constant through it all:  his mommy and daddy.  I pray that over time he will forget this whole ordeal; that this story will be one we tell with the pictures we took--not with memories.  And if we ever need to return for more surgeries, I hope they are when Zachary is old enough to understand why.

The last couple days we were in Michigan were very special.  On Tuesday, as we waited for the results of his echo and x-ray, Zachy hungrily devoured his lunch.  We discovered that he LOVES ketchup... it ranks right up there with ranch dip!  He started dipping his hamburger in ketchup, but when he realized how yummy it is, he figured he would ditch the burger and use the spoon!

You gotta love those big brown eyes!

We soon said goodbye to the staff on 5E and our super nurse, Ann:

and stopped on our way out only long enough to snap some photos:

Going, going...

GONE!!!

The one thing I believe kept Zachy going throughout his difficult recovery was Daddy's promise.  Daddy told him that as soon as he got better, he would get another tractor ride at the arboretum next to the Ronald McDonald House.  Even when Zachy was under sedation and on the ventilator, Daddy would ask him, "Remember the John Deere tractor you rode?  Do you want to go on it again?"  And of all the questions we asked him, this one elicited a nod of his head.  All throughout Zachy's hospital stay, Daddy kept reminding him of that tractor.  So it's no surprise, then, where we went that first evening Zachy was released.  Though Mommy argued that 95 degrees was too hot to go for a stroll, Daddy convinced her that Zachy would be fine and that he had to make good on his promise.  So before dinner, we walked down to the arboretum, and Zachary got back on that tractor!

We were soon confronted by a gardener from KANSAS, of all places, who remembered Zachary from his previous visit.  She very eagerly loaded us all up and took us for a tractor tour of the walking trails that lead down to the river.  It was a welcome breath of fresh air to leave the hospital and take in the natural beauty that Ann Arbor has to offer.  Dipping our feet into the crystal clear Huron River was refreshing on that hot summer afternoon, and we even sampled the wild berries that grew along the path!

Thank you, Rachel, for granting Zachy's wish!

On departure day, we had the opportunity to meet up with another heart family and good friends the Deans.  Their two year-old daughter Lindsay spent nearly the first entire year of her life in the hospital, and received a new heart shortly before her first birthday.  Today Lindsay is a busy and talkative little toddler who doesn't let anything slow her down!

Zachary and Lindsay giving each other "five" over lunch

Pay no attention to the minestrone all over Zachy's front

Oh, yes, she's definitely daughter-in-law material!

It was so good to see you, Suzie, Lindsay, Cole, and Cruz!  Thanks for making the trip out!

Our flight left late Wednesday evening.  We arrived at Detroit Metro airport in plenty of time, only to sit on the 98 degree tarmac in an UNair-conditioned  airplane for an hour before takeoff!  Zachy was sopping wet with sweat by the time our plane took off, but he was well-behaved nonetheless and got compliments from several fellow travelers for his good manners.

We're trying to settle back into our normal routine, and enjoying our summer while it's still here.  Kiss your babies and give them lots of hugs!  It's easy to take them for granted, and sometimes we just don't realize how special they are until we can't be with them.