Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Four Week Surprise!

Four weeks ago today, we walked into the hospital for the first time as newbies in the world of cancer.  Now, for better or worse, the pediatric hem/onc ward  has become like a second home to us.  

So homey that today I  even got to play nurse and don a mask and gloves while I learned the ins and outs of taking care of Spencer's central line at home.  I practiced flushing it with saline and heparin and learned the super sterile techniques of changing the dressing. 
The nurse watched my every move and let me practice on this dummy before trying it on poor Spencer who was giving me pointers while I did it. 
After that we packed up Spence's stuff...
and took it wagon load by wagon load out to the car....
Then a little going away party showed up to ooh and ah over his pink discharge ticket...

then they escorted him to the front doors of the hospital where the girls took the liberty of naming his monkey, "Rasneyily"...a catchy combination of their names...Jill, Sydney, Carly, and Rachel . 

It was a day or two earlier than we expected, so we weren't quite as prepared as we would have preferred....
but after a last minute shopping trip and a sign making/scrubbing/laundry session, we are so very happy to be home again.
All together under one roof.  Sleeping in our own beds.  Eating meals together.  

I don't think coming home has ever felt so sweet. 


************************************
Now that we are home...

you won't find us at the hospital anymore (just in case you planned on visiting). 

We have a home care company who brought us all the supplies we will need to flush his lines daily and change the dressing weekly.

he has an appointment to get his blood checked on Thursday, then if all looks good, he will get a bone marrow biopsy/spinal tap after that.    They told us to plan on it taking most of the day. 

The home bound education finally got set up and Spencer's home bound teacher arrives tomorrow for their first session. 

I will likely not be blogging every day while we are all at home.  I like to blog too much not to post at all, but I'm going to focus on soaking up every second I can of being all together as a family for this week. 

**********************************

"Think not that uninterrupted joy is good. The sunshine lies upon the mountain top all day, and lingers there latest and longest at eventide. Yet the valley is green and fertile while the peak is barren and unfruitful. Life that is all sunshine without shade, all happiness without sorrow, all pleasure without pain, were not life at all, at least not human life. Take the life of the happiest. It is a tangled yarn. It is made up of joys and sorrows, and the joys are all the sweeter because of the sorrows."
Reed Smoot

**********************************

9 comments:

K said...

Hooray that Spence got to come home. What a wonderful feeling to all be home together again!

Kristina Powell said...

Hooray!! Enjoy. What wonderful news. It is funny... every time I read your updates I am ready with a comment to let you know that I am thinking about you and praying for your whole family, but when I finish writing it never quite captures what is on my heart. So I don't post it. Please know that your family is in my thoughts and prayer on a level deeper than my words can express. Love you all and miss you. Thank you for your amazing example.

Kristina Powell said...

Sorry... I just realized it put me as anonymous for that last comment. Really I am Kristina Powell! :)

Mika said...

Glad to hear that you are home :)

I remember our stay at the children's ward, and once you come out, everything seems a bit surreal. Like things that mattered in the past, don't matter in the world. When all efforts have been to make your child healthy again, doing things that don't revolve around your family, feels weird (almost like a waste of time). That is how I felt anyway.

All the best for this next stage xo

The Busby Family said...

So glad you are all home together! You guys are amazing!

shannon said...

So glad you're home together! We have been following the blog closely for news on Spencer. Hugs and prayers from London!

Katie said...

Wonderful news! I'm so happy to hear it. I just hope he wasn't too upset when he arrived and realized the Erbs stole his loft bed ;)

Deanne said...

Hooray! That's wonderful!

Steve-Rosanna said...

"Hellllllo Nurse!!!"

quoted from Yakko Warner (Animainiacs)

It must feel heavenly to have everyone home under the same roof again. And Spencer must be thrilled to be home and back in his own room.

Nothing better for a harmonious family than a normal routine.

Welcome home Spencer! We love you.

google analytics