Heart Transplant Update

So--G. is home from the hospital. He came home exactly 1 week from the time he went in for the transplant. Amazing--truly amazing. It turns out that the donor was in fabulous physical condition. The heart was extremely strong. The doctors said it was much better than the one he would have gotten the week we had the "false alarm."

It is still strange that it has actually happened. He was sick for so long, and we were waiting for so long, and now it is just DONE. He is doing so great. He feels good, he is recovering great. He was only on the ventilator for a matter of hours! That is really outstanding, because the other two times he was on it, he had a really hard time getting weaned off. The tubes came out quickly, he started eating and moving around within a day or 2, and he was ready to go home. He didn't have any trouble with the anesthesia making him confused or anything. In fact, around day 4 I called my mom to check on him, and I was telling her about a smell in my kitchen. She let me talk to G, and he told me where it was probably coming from and how to fix it--he was right!

So, all in all, a GREAT WEEK!!!!! My sister, J., made it to Texas before the surgery was even over. She stayed until Sunday, and I think that helped my mom more than anything else could have. I think J's personality and style were exactly what my mom needed at that moment! I am going this Sunday and will be there a few days. He is doing so well, that basically I will be a shuttle driver. He has lots of rehab appointments, and he can't drive for a while (imagine that!)

This will be the first time I have ever left my kids, except to go to the hospital to have more kids! Even then, I saw them everyday--we just slept in different places. I have gone to Poland twice, but both times I saw them in the morning, and then saw them the following evening. It will probably be a little hard for me. They will do fine, of course! S. is taking the week off of work to stay home with them, so that makes it so much easier to go. It isn't that I have just REFUSED to leave them, I just haven't had the opportunity before.

We don't live close to family that I can leave them with for the weekend or whatever. I don't want to go away when someone comes to visit us, or we go visit them, because I want to see them too. So, it just hasn't happened. Any vacation that we've been on we take the kids with us, and I've never been on a "girls getaway" or whatever. So, I think this is a good first time, because I won't feel like I am being frivilous and wasting time and money that I can spend with and on them.

Anyway--that's the update. All is well (except for the + instead of -. See Below.)