Run! Jared Run!

Two weeks after we returned from Boston, Jared had his first visit with our home cardiologist.  It was the standard "Dinner & A Movie" visit i.e. EKG, ECHO and Exam.  We had talked with them over the phone during our stay and after we got home but it was great to talk in person again.  The Doc said they did a "remarkable job"; that's very high praise coming from him.  He told us that there was even a bit of overlap with the cone which would allow some growth to take place in the heart.  Time will tell if its enough but it's very hopeful.  He also said the incision was completely healed and Jared could swim and bathe if he wanted.  He smiled when I said I think I'll stick to the conservative direction of waiting eight weeks, just in case.  He and his head nurse know us well after seven years and its nice.

However, I was more than willing to let Jared start riding his bike again when he reached the six week mark (the minimum wait time for that activity).  He was tired of being left behind or having to walk.  The six week mark happened to fall on a baseball practice night so we even had somewhere to go;  he was so ecstatic!  That weekend, we all rode down to the park and around the lake together as a family to celebrate.  We were all thrilled to be greeted by otters!  In the eight years we've lived here we've heard otters lived near the lake but Chris and I had never seen them.  We actually got to see three; two parents and a juvenile and the juvenile was more than happy to eat some bread we threw it.

Today is the eight week mark, and after golf lessons today I'm sure he's going to turn into a raisin soaking in his first bath in months.  We started golf lessons shortly after getting home. He had wanted to learn how to play golf for a while and it was one of the few activities not on the "to be avoided for six months, till the sternum heals" list.   He and Titus as having great fun.

I never realized how "blue" Jared was till after his operations.  To me he was Jared, my beautiful son and that's just how he looked.  Now that he's "pink", I realize how truly "blue" he had always been.

Another major upside since his surgery is that he now has an appetite.  For years I had crammed his smoothies with all the calories and nutrition I could.  Getting him to just maintain his weight the last year had been a huge struggle, trying to get him to eat something small and high calorie every hour or two during the day.  Chris and I were floored the first time he said he was hungry, he'd never been hungry a day in his life, we jumped up ready to serve him anything he wanted.  In the last eight weeks he's actually gained seven pounds and you can really see the food finally sticking to his ribs.  Yay!  Even his hair has thickened up considerably.

The other major upside is that he can now keep up with his brothers and his friends.  Before his surgery he would run out of breath and energy just jogging to the mailbox (about 30 feet), playground games like tag had always been out of the question for him simply because he couldn't keep up.  That has all changed.  He gives Lance a run for his money literally.  It filled my heart to see him running ahead on our walk last night keeping up with Lance.  Just like it did his father when he took them to the playground and he could actually play tag with the other kids.  In fact this weekend, for the first time I saw him with sweat running down his face he was playing so hard in the backyard.  Who would have thought sweat would look so good.

Sometimes I find myself forgetting to breathe again.  I had held my breathe for seven years and was accustomed to living in fear; its still hard some days to believe he's doing so well. We truly serve an awesome God.