We are home! In fact, we have been home since Saturday night!!! Never did I think we would be home that soon. We had been told anywhere from 2-4 days. This girl is resilient. She could keep nothing done on Friday. She was listless and clingy, whimpering a good deal. To be expected. No way she would be going home on Saturday.

As I mentioned, we both had very good sleep on Friday night. I never heard them come in at 4 am for vitals. I know. That makes me a bad mother, not awake at my child’s every sound. Then again, a well-rested mom is a much better mom.

Once they ordered a diet for her, she had toast and apple juice. So far, so good. I had given her some morphine after the pain specialist had been in and thought maybe Jonalyn didn’t have enough medication. After all, I’d only pushed the button once – just before we left recovery for our room.

I should have listened to my instincts. After the morphine, her stomach was upset and she began whimpering again. No more of that. Because her breakfast stayed down, they gave her oral meds and removed her IV lines. She hated those.

Doug came in the early afternoon with the other kids and we ordered lunch for Jonalyn. She didn’t eat a ton, but kept down what she ate. The nurse said the doc had given us the go-ahead to go home if we felt we were up to it. The vote was unanimous – YES!

Things have gone well since then. She spends her day in the recliner – so much more comfortable than the wheelchair. She plays with her ipad and reads books and sticks stickers to paper. This morning, I heard her singing. Only when her medication wears off does she appear to be in any pain.

Transfers are tough. Yesterday she cried with every one. We have a system now. The best way to lift her is by grabbing her under her arms and letting her feet dangle. It doesn’t look pretty, but she protests the least with these. She hasn’t cried as much today during transfers, so hopefully that is getting better.

I leave you with a few photos. The first is of the system we’ve devised. Her medications aren’t given at the same time, so to avoid confusion, we write down what each is, when is was given, and when we can give it again. We also write down the times we take her to the bathroom so we don’t forget to make her go every now and again.
The second is of Jonalyn in the recliner with her bright yellow casts.