Let’s all go to the lobby… let’s all go to the lobby!
Ok…..BACK UP!
I was going to go to the hospital early this morning because a rep from the state long term care program was coming to assess Brendan. But an accident on the freeway had the whole thing shut down and I figured traffic would be a nightmare. So Trevor and I went through his normal morning, and he was having a nice nap.
And then the phone rang!
The discharge nurse wanted my consent over the phone to transfer Brendan out of the ICU to a small hospital where we can do our training and prep for homecoming! All I could say is WHHHHAAAAAT? TODAY?!!
Trevor and I packed up and got to the hospital as quickly as possible. Trevor actually slept the whole way there, it was nice he was able to continue his nap.
When we walked in, word had gotten around and everyone we passed was saying congrats. Brendan was out of his crib, sitting on the floor in a bouncy, wearing a tshirt and looking too cute just waiting to get the heck out of there!!
One of the things we had to do is have Brendan’s friend Jennifer from Child Life finish updating his Beads of Courage. I posted about it before, but if you don’t remember, Beads of Courage is a program for kids where they get different colored beads to document their hospital stay. It tells their story of treatment and gives them something to look back on later. I really love the program and Brendan has quite a string going. Just for example, he gets one yellow bead every time he sleeps overnight in the hospital. He gets a rainbow bead every time he has PT, a red bead for every transfusion, a glow in dark for every echocardiogram, a pale green for every xray, etc. He gets gorgeous hand made beads for milestones and significant days of courage.
http://www.beadsofcourage.org/
Brendan has an almost 40ft long string going back to his birthday!
It turned a lot of heads today to have his beads there for discharge. The staff all know what it means and many were pretty amazed at Brendan’s journey.
He will keep collecting his beads for clinic visits and echos and shots and things, even when he eventually goes back for his next heart surgery.
Trevor did such a good job today being a happy baby, especially with all of the chaos! He just got a little slaphappy!
Good thing there was still room for Trevor in the whale after we got all of Brendan’s stuff packed!
Bill helps the transport team from the other hospital get the car seat set up right for Brendan! He didn’t have to take an ambulance, just a nice transport van.
All ready to go!
Jennifer even made Brendan a going away poster and got all the staff to sign it for him. It is really special – there are so so so many people that have been involved in his care these last few months!
He is all settled in for now in his new room. We had too much work to do with admissions paperwork and helping the staff get to know Brendan so I did not take pictures yet in the new place. I will work on that part tomorrow! We are so excited and proud of Brendan. He may come home as early as the 28th. What a perfect birthday present that would be for me!!
We have work to do to get ready! We’ll be interviewing a nurse on Friday for his at home overnight care. I could go on and on, but I will save the rest for tomorrow’s blog. Very good night!!
All I can say is ….. WOW! Keep up the good work Brendan! 🙂 Trevor you are doing such a good job knowing when to be good because mom and dad have too much to deal with ~ you keep up your good work, too!! 😀
Seeing him with all those beads puts his journey in real prespective. My heart is full with love and happiness for all of you.
So beyond awesome, there are no words.
Best post! I continue to be so amazed by everything that Brendan has gone through and the fact that he has weathered it all with such a sweet and silly disposition! And Trevor is already such a good and helpful brother. He seems to have a feel for what he needs to do to help out, whether it’s PT with his brother or just staying out of the way, when that’s necessary. It’s going to be so much fun to watch these two continue to grow up together!
🙂 🙂 🙂 If you hear, on the news, about a tsunami in Lake Michigan. . .it wasn’t an earthquake, it was me, jumping for joy ! 🙂 🙂
Prayers of thanks now, with one prayer of request, that Brendan’s May 28th homecoming, will come to be a reality. You’ve more than earned a “perfect Birthday Present”.
Love,
Dad
YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We’re so happy to hear this. I hope this means the new hospital is closer to your home now. How exciting. He looks so big too. And Trevor is a doll. They both are. God Bless : )
What GREAT news!!! Way to go Brendan, you’re still amazing us with your will to get better. Tiffanie and Bill, wow! No words can express how great this is. Trevor, you are so amazing too! To know whats going on at such a young age. It helps your mommy and daddy out so much. You babies are incredible! Way cool!!
Seeing his beads really puts that last 7 months into perspective. That string will be such a tangible reminder to Brendan as he gets older of all he went through to be here, and all of the mostly(by then) nameless people who helped him get there. It is so cool to see Brendan in a car seat like a regular baby! Keep growing buddy – there’s no place like home, full of brother and dogs and new sounds and sites!