Jared was feeling so well after his release from the hospital we had some time to play tourist before his final appointment. They told us to just follow his lead for what he was up to doing and that's what we did.
Since Grandma Elaine was leaving Friday, Jared wanted to do something special with her on Thursday. Being that he was just released from the hospital I wanted it to be something fairly calm and not too germy. Germs are still a major concern.
We found the perfect thing to do "Duck Boat Tours" of Boston. They are these cool WWII amphibious vehicles (nice and open to fresh air/less germs) decked out as tourists transports that take you on a historical journey across land and sea (or a least the Charles River).
We learned a lot about Boston; from the monkey living in the rafters of the "Garden" to the multi-million gallon molasses spill/explosion that drowned 21 people and flooded an area of downtown in 30 feet of molasses, to traditional points of interest and history. My favorite part was when he pointed out the Paul Revere would has never yelled "The British are Coming!", since they were all considered British at that time. He would have yelled something like "The Redcoats" or "The Regulars are coming!". Once he said that I thought "Duh!" but I'd never questioned it before. Just another example of how important it is to question everything and see if it makes sense.
Monday, we hung out at the hotel and let Chris work some more, while I started to pack up. He'd been trying to put in a few hours a day since Jared's release. His work has been so accommodating, that too is a great blessing.
We chose to be positive and pack everything up and load the car before going to Jared's final appointment. We knew if anything came back negative we would have to stay longer but after all God had done we felt confident we would be going home.
The appointment was at 11:30am on Tuesday. First he had some chest X-Rays, then an EKG and vitals. I thought he would need an ECHO also but they decided against doing one. Miss Ann the NP removed his remaining stitches and told us what our restrictions should be for the next six weeks. No water (swimming, bath, etc), no bicycling, no roughhousing but other activity as much as he's comfortable. When the doctor came in I asked him how the X-Ray looked, if he had more fluid build up we'd have to stay. He said it was "better than fine, it was awesome", so awesome he lowered the directic he was taking in half. He reiterated again, what so many had said during our stay, that Jared had recovered amazingly and that he was an amazing patient "we should be proud" and we are. We are proud of Jared for his strength and positive attitude, his big brother who had to grow up a bit to help out a lot with his little sister and never complained once, and even for the Mighty Titus and his sidekick Amber who handled all the change like troopers.
We left the hospital, checked out of the hotel and were on the road to Scranton by 2:30pm. We ran into heavy rains so we didn't make it there till 8pm. But we made it safe and funny enough found out we were the "resident of the day". We got a snack from the snack store.
That night Amber started a high fever, thankfully it broke in the early morning. We had kept Titus with Chris for the last appointment because he was a little snotty but he never got the fever thankfully. Its amazing we all held out as long as we did.
Next, we continued our reverse course back to Lorton, VA to take the Auto Train home.
More about our return home in my next post (sounds like teaser Hee! Hee!).
Chris FB Posts:
It's been a very surreal
three weeks. Three Mondays ago I was loading the car amidst rain bands from
Isaac. It was an ominous start to what would be the most difficult time in our
lives. We were about to embark on a 1300 mile journey to someplace unfamiliar
to have something done neither of us wanted to have done. Our beautiful boy had
reached the end of his body's ability to cope with the heart defects he was
born with. We had to trust that God had a plan and would watch over us. And did
He ever. Just as when Jared was born, his strength and ability to recover
simply amazed everyone involved with his case. We knew better. We both knew God
had a plan for our little miracle. Our first glimpse came a few years after
Jared was born. Our cardiologist told us a little girl was born in Altamonte,
just north of Orlando, with very similar defects. From what they learned in
treating Jared, the little girl was able to go home in 5 days instead of the
month Jared spent in the hospital. We may never know what may come of this
latest experience, but it matters not. It's our job to make the best of our
current circumstances.
Three weeks ago, we left Orlando with the "blue" Jared. On Thursday,
(Lord willing) we will return with the new and improved "pink" Jared.
It's the same little boy we know and love, but his body is now operating at full
capacity. Tina said in her blog that our expectation in coming here was to just
save and extend Jared's life. What we received back was beyond our wildest
imaginations. The cardiologist treating him here told us it was time to
"mainstream" Jared. We were dumbfounded. It's been difficult to
convey to ourselves what this exactly means. Our entire mindset towards Jared
is going to change. Over the past few days, Jared has been changing it for us.
On his release from the hospital, the instructions for activity level were to
simply follow Jared's lead. His body would tell him when to slow down and rest.
What we saw astounded us. He has been walking, running, jumping, and keeping up
with his brothers, which is something he has never been able to do before.
Before we left Orlando, Jared would climb the stairs at home and be out of
breath by the time he reached the top. Our stairs only have 17 steps. On
Saturday, September 15, a mere 11 days removed from the completion of 8 hours
of open heart surgery, Jared climbed 294 steps to reach the top of the Bunker
Hill Memorial. We never rested for more than a few seconds and he never ran out
of breath. Granted, I did have to carry him back down, but he needed a break,
he did just have surgery, right??
I would like to personally thank everyone that has prayed for us, but that is
impossible. Jared's story has literally spanned the globe and people from all
over are praying. Don't stop, it is working and we are not home yet!!
Tuesday we meet with the cardiologist here and then head out. We should be home
Thursday. Please pray that the doctor gives his blessing and for our safe
travels.
Thank you all.
On her last night in Boston, Amber choose to stay up late and hang with daddy on the 25th floor and see the skyline
We are packed and leaving Boston!!
at Residence Inn Scranton: We arrived safely. Sketchy drive. It rained the whole way and it was very, very heavy at times
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