9/6/09 Good news and more good news

Hello all,

I just came back from returning Chris to St. Jude's. We had a successful home visit!!!!!!! Tim (his brother) and I picked him up at 9:00.Of course his paperwork was not ready, nor was his meds for the day, so we had to wait around for an hour while the nurses scrambled to get all this. Poor guy had been awake at 5 am (as was I) ready to come home.

We had the best day, just being at home, all together. Tim and Jenn arrived from Washington D.C. on Saturday, so the four of us sat in the backyard reading the Sunday paper. The girls were content to stay out of the heat and played inside. At first I tried to make them play outside, so Chris could be near them but he said just hearing them in the background was enough to please him. After awhile the heat became too much for the rest of us, so we moved inside. I recorded the USC game because Chris didn't get that channel in the hospital. Yes, he already knew it was a blow out but was still entertaining to watch. Go Trojans!

If I described the rest of the day it would sound hum drum to anyone else but for us it was a pleasure to be under one roof, enjoying a lazy Sunday. We had permission to keep daddy until 8 PM. After Tim cooked his mom's baked ziti recipe, as requested by Chris, he looked exhausted. I had a feeling he was ready to go back and go to sleep. He said his mind didn't want to leave but his body did. As soon as we announced that, Caitlin had a meltdown, she wanted daddy to stay. I thought I had made it clear to her that this was just for the day. She made a huge production of crying and clinging to him. I am sure that did not make it any easier for Chris to go.

He will be back for good on Thursday and now I know we are all ready. We were able to get his wheelchair into the house and he fit through every door way necessary. We even got him up the huge step into the dinning room and kitchen. We ate dinner at the table, as a family. Ah, the simple pleasures.

On another good note, Chris had a second MRI done yesterday on his brain. I didn't share this with many because I just couldn't bare the thought, but they want to make sure he had not had stroke when he hit the water. I am just finding out now that both arteries were clogged when they went in for one of his neck surgeries (not sure if it was the first or second). They were suspicious that this was the reason that his left side is not moving yet. I only learned of this yesterday morning and have been sick to my stomach ever since. We just happened to run into his Dr. this morning when we were checking out and she looked at the reports super quick to let us know, all is well, no stroke. Hopefully that just means it is a matter of time before the left side moves.

I am off to dream of Chris walking. Good night to you.

Love and gratitude,

Christy