Home Again

Greyson's visit with Dr. Spaeth went well yesterday morning especially since he didn't tell her that he didn't like her. He told her that Thursday when she came to visit after surgery. He knew she was responsible for the splint.

By Ronald (or as G calls him "Donald")

She checked out the stitches and took out the drain tube. She re-wrapped it all and gave us instructions on how to care for it all. He won't have any OT or PT for now but just be encouraged to use both hands. We will follow up to check the healing with his pediatrician in a couple of weeks. He is going to talk with Dr. Shiels to decide when a follow up MRI will be and when we will take G back for follow-up treatment. He is good to go for now.

We hung out with Tralaine and Andy in German Village at Katzinger's Deli and the coolest bookstore ever. Before leaving them at their hotel heading to the airport for their flight home.

Candy Buckeye (chocolate and peanut butter is AWESOME)

Katzinger's Deli (it's famous...has even been on Food Network)

Cruising German Village carrying his leftover lunch.

Reading with Uncle Andy - they lost us when we went to get some sweets.

Fun with Aunt Tralaine. Lucky she was there to help clean up the two water spills at lunch.

 
We got home last night around 10pm and he did pretty good on the trip. We read books, played with some borrowed toys, and watched Babar and Monsters Inc. for the 50th time.

The week should be fairly quiet and he will probably go back to the sitter next week. He needs to be able to catch himself if he falls and things are looking promising considering he is wiggling his fingers today.

We will send an update maybe this weekend. He is doing so well there isn't much to report.

Take care,
Brooke, Michael, and Greyson

Whirlwind Weekend

I can't believe it is already 10pm on Sunday night. Since we left the hospital on Friday time has flown by. Greyson has done excellent. He has had some minor pain but the Ibuprofen seems to take care of it. By Friday evening he was dealing with the splint much better and tearing around here like he owned the place. He found the train table in the play room and was hard to tear away from it.

Tralaine and Andy got in Friday night and we met up with the Saturday. We visited the Runners Expo, ate, had Jeni's Ice Cream of course, and hung out at RMH. I was supposed to take a taxi to their hotel this morning but it never showed. Luckily there were some very nice volunteers here to make breakfast and they offered to give me a ride (only 5 minutes). Michael and Greyson got to meet him at breakfast and he even made them a special plate of eggs and french toast.

The race was great. So well put together and supported. There were 18,000 runners with both the 1/2 and full marathons being sold out. I have never seen so many bathrooms and water stops...the important stuff for runners. Since we raised so much money (thanks to so many of you, we hit our goal of $1500 on Saturday and went over - yipeeee!)we had access to a special VIP tent at the beginning and end with some special food and more port-potties.

Running 26.2 miles is a challenge but we got it done. My legs wouldn't say it was a fun day but spending the day running with Tralaine and Andy is always worth it. I owe my finish time once again to Tralaine. She seems to have turned into my personal pacer and pulled me through many miles making sure I got a PR (personal record). Thanks Sis! And of course it was great to see Michael and Greyson at the end having fun at the after party. Of course G didn't want to leave.

Greyson goes to see Dr. Spaeth in the morning. We expect she will send us on our way after the visit. She said he may or may not come home with the drain but I am betting not...it really isn't putting out much. She will also take the splint off tomorrow and we will get a good look at the incisions. He has one at his elbow, one at his wrist, and one on each of 3 fingers.

I will send an update once we get on the road to let everyone know the plan. What a trip it has been...Michael and I will be glad when we are finally home.

Have a great evening. Pictures to come hopefully tomorrow.
Brooke, Michael, and Greyson

Friday Morning Update (10/19)

Greyson had a pretty good night's sleep. He fell asleep around 7pm and woke for about 30 minutes at 11:30pm, then was awake again from 4am-6am, and finally woke up about 8am. He hasn't complained about much pain. He really doesn't like the splint that Dr. Spaeth made special for him. We told her it might be an issue so she wrapped the splint in blue tape with cars on it. He still isn't much of a fan. We found that if we covered it up along with the IV and other monitor with a blanket he didn't worry much about it as much. He even started covering them up.

Playing Peek-a-boo!

He has been unhooked from all monitors now and seems to be dealing with the splint better since he is now mobile. He just finished up breakfast and is playing here in the room. We are getting ready to head down to the new play room and let him have some fun before we check out.

The plan is to go to RMH by noon today and just hang out for a couple of days. Tralaine and Andy will get here tonight and we will meet up with them tomorrow. The Runners Expo is tomorrow and then the marathon on Sunday. I will make another post sometime after the run Sunday.

If anyone is interested in donating to our team for the marathon I think you still can. We are $225 away from our $1500 goal. Click and drag over this address then copy and paste it into your web browser if you are interested in giving: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=1011247&u=1011247-364784818&e=5979548072  Tralaine, Andy and I raised more than anyone else on the Plastics Department Team and we owe that all to those of you that donated :) Many Thanks!

Take care and thanks for everything,
Brooke, Michael, and Greyson

Surgery Done & In Recovery

We got here bright and early and surgery started about 7:50am. Greyson was given some medicine to relax him and he was quite silly when we left him with the nurses. The surgery went as planned and just finished at 2ish. It took a bit longer then planned due to his growth tissue being wrapped around veins and major nerves but that is what Dr. Spaeth specializes in so he was in good hands. She shared a lot about what she did and even showed us some pictures and is very pleased with the outcome.

We are waiting now to get to go back and see him and then head to his room here at the new hospital for the evening. Dr. Spaeth doesn't think there should be any major problems and he should be able to go back to RMH tomorrow.

Take care and we will share more later.
Brooke

Sclero Done, Surgery Tomorrow

Well, I hope you all followed the rule that "no news is good news" since this message is so late.
Sclero went as expected today with a bit of an extended stay in recovery. Greyson had a bit of pain and was very thirsty after so they gave him some pain meds and some juice. He sucked the juice down and then threw it back up a couple of times. We gave him a couple extra hours to settle down and he was just fine so we were on our way.

We had lunch at the hospital, stopped for a short visit at Ronald McDonald House, and then went to visit Dr. Spaeth to talk about surgery and get paperwork filled out.
After Hospital/Dr. stuff I fit in a run in German Village and Michael and Greyson hung out at RMH to play outside at the "playground". We had dinner here and took care of some laundry (throwing up was not good to Eli, Blue Blanket, or Michael).

Everything is a go for tomorrow. We will get up around 5am (4am for most of you in Central Time) and will be at the hospital by 5:45am. Surgery is going to be less than 6 hours but we should know more specifics in the morning. I will have more time to post tomorrow since we will be in the hospital all day and overnight. Dr. Spaeth expects Greyson to do great and get to check out on Friday.

Thanks for all the loving comments. :) Take care!

Brooke

The Day You Were Born - Album Finally Done

Finally finished this project and waited for the 50% off books discount to come around. Turned out pretty cute if I must say so myself.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Create your own custom photo books at Shutterfly.com.

Brooke

On The Road to Columbus, OH

We left for Columbus this morning a bit later than planned but the only appointment to keep today is dinner with Matt (cousin in Louisville). He is hosting us this evening and is making a yummy pot roast with potatoes and carrots and Mac-n-Cheese cause he knows G is a big fan. We are so lucky to have such great family to lean on...an friends of course. 

 

We will arrive at Ronald McDonald House tomorrow afternoon with a big bag of shampoos, soaps, etc to share with them. Between all of Michael's travel with work and from my awesome eMINTS family travels we have a lot of toiletries to give. We are lucky to have a "schedule" with G's stuff but so many family's find themselves there unexpectedly with nothing and these items may take away one minor worry while they are there.

Greyson's schedule is as follows:

10/17/12 (Wed.) Sclero with Dr. Shiels - arrive at 6am for 8am-9:30am sclero. He will treat chest and shoulder area. We will take him back with us and then a late afternoon appointment to check in with Dr. Spaeth.

10/18/12 (Thurs.) Surgery with Dr. Spaeth - arrive at 5:45am for 7:30am surgery. Should be 5 or less hours. She will work on his elbow, wrist, and hand. He will stay overnight in the hospital and hopefully get released early Friday to go back to RMH.

10/20/12 (Sat.) Get ready for Marathon with Tralaine and Andy. Go to Runner's Expo and chill.

10/21/12 (Sun.) Marathon and recover!

10/22/12 (Mon.) Follow-up Appt. with Dr. Spaeth and hopefully head home.

We will post updates as time provides (at least one a day) and will hopefully get to put up a picture or two. Thanks for all of your support and love.

Brooke, Michael, and Greyson