August 3rd – Brendan seems to have had a big upswing in his mood and his energy. For the first time, he wanted to play with his iPad and he played with his Legos.

Brendan is making a new friend. Meet portable x-ray machine. It visits him every morning.

We had a big monsoon storm blast through the city with heavy winds and driving rain. What motivation to walk to the windows! He took his new Hedwig owl with him.

Gramma and I took Trevor to our friends’ house for swimming time. It was nice to float around in the pool until the storm hit! It was a downpour! The storm didn’t last long, there were just puddles leftover.

August 4th – Brendan had another day that moved overall in a positive direction. He was scheduled for another post-op echo. He needed a lot of medication just to get through it. His chest was so sore. He got so stressed and upset that it affected the rest of the day.

He finally started to recover after a very long nap in the afternoon. We built a cute owl project that was dropped off by the Child Life specialists.

Still tired from the morning meltdown, plus some painful tummy problems.

When sensory overload strikes, make a Brendan Burrito.

Gramma took Trevor to the SeaLife Aquarium. He always has a good time there.

August 5th – After a relatively good night, Brendan got some good news in rounds. Five things are now missing in this picture. Can you count them?

That’s right. FIVE!!!

¡¡¡¡pooƃ ɹoɟ ǝuoƃ – ʞsɐɯ uǝƃʎxo ǝɥʇ puɐ ‘sǝɹᴉʍ ɹǝɔɐd oʍʇ ‘sǝqnʇ ʇsǝɥɔ oʍʇ :ɹǝʍsuɐ

Party blower time! It was excrutiating to have all of the things removed, but we couldn’t be happier that they are gone!

Celebrate!

Once the chest tubes were out, Brendan got seriously HUNGRY! I think it is because they have kept him on a fat-free formula all this time. His body was craving fats. At 6:30am, he was asking the nurse if he could have a hot dog and cheese. He had to settle for pancakes and breakfast sausage.

He made a pancake sandwich!

He actually bit, chewed, and ate about half of a pancake and an entire pat of butter. He nibbled on the sausage. Later, he still wanted his hot dog and he ordered some chicken legs for dinner. Go Brendan! He did have a rough afternoon after all the drugs from the morning procedure wore off. But he settled down for a better evening with Bill.

Another Bathed Brendan Burrito ready for a nap. He gets a chill from the sponge baths, so they bring him toasted blankets.

He was playing with gifts he received from his Aunt Heather P.

He is practicing his levitation spells.

Gramma forgot her scissors!! She bought a new pair just to give Trevor his back-to-school haircut.

I was feeding Trevor sour gummy worm chunks to bribe him to sit still. I guess it worked, but he got a case of the spastic giggles at bedtime.

Brendan’s echo results were very good. His chest xray this morning was excellent and clear.
We were told that he could leave the hospital MONDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Barring infection, return of fluid in chest, or other complications, we should be able to bring him home to continue healing. He will have several follow ups and will be coming home on several medications for a while. We are nervous and excited. Brendan’s tears were flowing all day because he just wants to come home. It must feel like forever to him.