Although her progress has been remarkable, her journey has not been without a few speed bumps. She developed a UTI which is not uncommon after having a catheter in place for a few days. What was uncommon was the bacteria that caused the infection which justified a nephrology consult and a renal ultrasound. Her team was worried that something else might be going on with her kidneys. Luckily, all is well with her kidneys & surrounding structures so this UTI can be chalked up to nasty germs floating around the PICU. Darn microbes.
She also developed a little wound on her nose from the pressure the breathing tube placed on it while she was intubated. A wound care nurse evaluated her within hours of extubation & we are treating the wound with honey. Yep, honey. This sticky stuff has antimicrobial properties, keeps the wound moist & debrides yucky tissue. And it tastes good.
We got our walking papers on Monday & spent half the day packing up our goodies. We entered the hospital with a baby & a bag and left with 2 wagons full of stuff.
I am in a state of disbelief. We waited so long for this day, for her heart to be fixed, and now that we're home it feels surreal. Life before surgery revolved around keeping her healthy and packing on the pounds. It will take some time to decompress, to finally be able to really exhale, but in the meantime we are just soaking up the good stuff and toasting new beginnings...
Welcome home, Punks!!
