Surgery Update 26 - HOME!

Our sweet little Emma came home today.  She was formally discharged from Primary Children's at around 11:00 a.m.  What a joy it was for us to bring her back home, knowing that her once- defective heart is now fixed, and that this beautiful daughter of ours can now live a normal, healthy life.  Her being back home with us also closes out a very challenging chapter of our lives, and ushers in new, hopefully brighter, less-stressful one.  

Her last night at the hospital was very difficult, as she was in a lot of pain and cried through most of the night.  Amy was up walking her around the hospital at 2:00 a.m. to try to calm her down.  It was pretty clear that she still needed the Lortab, and we had taken her off it too soon.  Doctors this morning approved her to remain on Lortab for another couple of days.

Now that her pain levels are back under control, she is doing very well.  She seems happy to be back home, and has been all smiles and cuteness since we arrived.  Her doctors felt that supplemental oxygen would not be necessary, even with her continuing on with Lortab, so we were pretty pleased to not have to bring an oxygen tank home.  That being said, we'll still keep monitoring her O2 levels with the pulse-ox device we have at home for a couple of days to be sure.

Emma's doctors and nurses emphasized that effective immediately she can be treated like a normal, healthy child, and we are now free from the sequestered life we have been limited to for the past six months.  Sure, there are things we have to be careful of, such as the way we pick her up so as to not cause pain or stress on her healing sternum.  We'll also be pretty cautious overall for the next few days.  But hearing this was music to our ears, as we have been restricted for so long in order to keep Emma healthy.

This will be our final Surgery Update post on this blog.  We are so touched at the outpouring of love and concern for our family throughout Emma's surgery and hospital stay.  Thank you for your kindness, your love, and your friendship.  We will still make updates to our blog from time to time going forward, so keep us on your radar, and feel free to check back often.  We'd love to hear from you as well.

Sincerely,

Dave, Amy, Triston & Emma