On the way home again!

We drove to Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday, saw Dr. Kozin this morning, toured the US Mint this afternoon, and headed back to Ohio. Jadon got the casts off of his legs and the wrap off of his arm. No tummy time and no lifting his arm above his shoulder for 3 weeks. They tell us we can minimize the scars by massaging them and keeping them out of the sun. I posted pictures below of the incisions that were unveiled today. So far, an uneventful trip but, we have met several great people, all facing their own challenges. Next visit is in three months.

On the Road Again.

Well, I am not sure where the last three weeks have gone. It all seems a little fuzzy. It could be the three hours of sleep that I was living on for those first two weeks. Somehow it is already time for us to return to Philadelphia for Jadon's follow-up appointment with Dr. Kozin. I can't wait! We have one stinky baby right now! No matter how hard we try to keep the wrap his arm is in clean and dry he still manages to spit up on it. The casted feet are not smelling to rosy right now either! I will be taking baby wash and baby lotion and a wash cloth to the appointment with to scrub him down after everything is off.

I also can't wait to cuddle him with out all that stuff on. It has been very difficult to get good snuggle time in. I know Jadon can't wait to sleep on his stomach again either. His sleeping has improved in the last few days. He even slept six hours straight one night which was not something that happened much before surgery. Last night though he was up a couple times in the night. He just can't seem to get comfortable sometimes.

We are going to be driving out to Philadelphia again. The other two kids are staying here with my sister so they do not miss anymore school. Shelby is still trying to make up work she missed from the week we were gone for Jadon's surgery. We will be leaving on Wednesday morning. The first night we will stay at my cousin's house in Ohio and then hopefully we will get back in to the Ronald McDonald House for the two nights we need to stay there. Keep your fingers crossed!

Jadon's appointment is on Friday morning (Oct. 2nd). I think Matt wants to go see the US Mint that afternoon. Then on Saturday morning we will hit the road again to return home.

Doing Better Everyday

Jadon is such a trooper!! Everyone who has seen him since we have been home can't believe how wonderful he is doing. I have also heard "Still the same sweet little boy" a few times also. He seemed to struggle with pain on Saturday night into Sunday a little more than he had been. Today (Monday) he seems to be doing better though. He was thrilled to see his David come to play this morning. He just looked at him and his whole face lit up. I have been talking to a few other mothers who have had a child go through this and they have both said that their child was done taking the Tylenol with Codeine by this point. So my goal now is to keep Jadon comfortable on regular tylenol and ibuprofen. Keeping fingers crossed.

I scheduled our follow up appointment for Friday, October 2nd. So now we begin planning yet another trip to Philadelphia. Hopefully that will be the last one for awhile!

Home At Last

Hello All!! It is Kiana this time. We are home. We rolled in around 7 p.m., but not before we let Shelby off at the football game to see her friends. She was dying to see her friends. Cindy was nice enough to make us supper. It was wonderful to come home to a home cooked meal. Our house sitters, Dani and Brian, were also here to greet us. Thanks guys for taking such good care of us!

The trip home today was uneventful. Long but no vehicle malfunctions! Thank goodness!! I am currently unpacking and getting ready to do laundry.

Thanks to all of you who prayed and prayed and prayed for us this week. Some of you we don't even know!! Words can not express how much each and every thought and prayers from loved ones and strangers alike have meant to us. They carried all of us through this very long week. Please continue to keep Jadon in your prayers as he heals from his surgery.

Well. That is all for now!

Detour

We had dinner last night at the RMH with a family from the Champaign, Il area. They have a 4 year old that had the same injury as Jadon. He had nerve grafts when he was 13 months old in St. Louis and then in May of this year had a tendon transfer surgery by Dr. Kozin. This trip was a followup to that surgery. What I found very encouraging is, we would have never known this child had a bad arm. He has limited motion when he tries to bring his left hand towards his waist, but he has a very good range of motion. He did not seem to favor the arm at all. This was the fourth trip to Philly for his family, and they have driven each time.

Jadon was up at 2 am but we fed him and gave him his pain medicine and he went back to sleep. We cleaned up the room, packed the Jeep and headed out about 9:00 am. I won't go into why Jake rolled his window down, but it may have had to do with the eggplant casserole I had for dinner. We were in the worst part of Philly when 3 out of 4 windows on the Jeep went down, and then shortly after, only 2 of those would roll back up. After a couple hours of driving, Jake's window still refused to go up so we used a combination of the Garmin GPS and my phone to find and call a Jeep dealer that was close. That is where we are sitting now, enjoying the complimentary soda and watching "The Price Is Right". Not making any progress towards home though.

Jadon is eating, but he hasn't needed any pain medicine since 2 am. He sure is an attention getter. Two of the McDonalds employees felt sorry for him and brought him happymeal toys. A lady in the McDonalds parking lot had to stop and ask about him. Some people don't want to ask and I think they just assume we threw him down the stairs or something.

Discharged

Tylenol with Codeine every 4 hours. Don't touch the wrap or the casts, and bring him back in a month to remove everything. Don't expect to see much improvement on the arm for at least 6 to 8 months. That was it. We filled the prescription for the Tylenol at Walgreens and headed back to the RMH. We'll start the drive home tomorrow.

Everything has a nerve attached now, but they were long nerve grafts and will take a while to grow together. We had hoped that we could have the pediatrician remove the casts and wraps, or maybe have it done at the Peoria Children's Hospital but Dr. Kozin really wants to see him in Philly in a month. Looks like Kiana and I will try to find a cheap flight. Now that we know his arm is down, and not cast in the "statue of liberty" position, we may be able to handle him on a plane.