The Best Christmas Present Ever

This is "momma" updating Stacy's blog.  Wow~where do I begin.  I think the best place to begin is by our entire family giving our thanks to God for paving the way for Stacy to be discharged on Christmas Eve morning.  It was our most fervent prayer that Stacy would be medically able to be discharged home so she could be with her children for Christmas.  We give all the praise and glory to God!  I think I speak for the entire family when I say, this has been the BEST Christmas ever!  I know I never experienced one more moving and emotional than this one.  The joy we all received from watching Stacy and her children revel in being reunited for the holiday was more joy than any monetary gift could ever give.  Once being discharged and making a stop at the drug store for Rx's, Stacy's daddy and I got her home and all settled in.  Christian got to see his mommy first, and the sheer joy in that child's eyes would bring any human to tears.  He is such a kind, caring, loving child.  Then Kami arrived home.  I took a brief minute to explain to her that mommy had some boo-boo's and that I would show her where they were, so she could hug and be close to Mommy without hurting her.  Her meemaw has also been talking to her about this during her stay with her.  Thanks to meemaw and peepaw (Sarah & Mike) for doing such a great job!  It also helped that she had a baby doll that had a trach and she knew her mommy would have one also.  When Kami saw mommy, she just snuggled in very close and gave Stacy a longgggggggggggggggggggg gentle hug.  Stacy showed Kami all her boo-boo's and we explained to her what each one was, and why it was there.  Kami was OK with that, and it was clearly evident that the most important thing to Kami was that her mommy was home!!!!

I cannot put into words our Christmas Eve.  These kids were the best!!!!! I am so proud of them, and with the whole family together it was great.  Although many family members live in other states their presence through their thoughts and prayers were with all of us. 

Stacy has done really well with pain management, tube feeding, and trach care.  The trach is really irritating to her, but as the swelling continues to recede at an awesome rate, she gets closer to having it removed.  The key to the swelling going down is to be upright, mobile, and get plenty of fluids.  We go back to Chapel Hill on Monday, and hopefully they will remove this "pain in the neck".  If they don't remove it Monday, I am optimistic that they will give us a return appointment to do this.  They determine removal by having the ability to get adequate ventilation through the nose/mouth.  To do this, they will check the swelling in her throat, and then if it appears minimal, they will cap the trach and monitor her air intake and oxygen level in her blood.  Stacy is very motivated and is doing everything in her power to speed up the removal.

Christian has assisted his mom with several tube feedings, and also has given her some of her med's.  We are using the bolus method, which means that we use a large syringe and hook it up to the port in her tummy which allows the nutrition/meds to go into her stomach.  At the hospital we had a bag we could put her formula in and let it run, but this method is just as easy. 

Kami loves being on the bed when it is mommie's rest time.  She lays next to Stacy and will rub her arm and read to her to "make her feel better".  It is amazing how gentle Kami is.  It also amazes me that while Stacy can communicate verbally some through her trach, Kami always knows what her mommie is telling her through both verbalizations and gestures.  Christian also does well with this, and he likes when his mom communicates with him through writing. 

Our family would like to thank all our family, friends, and others for keeping Stacy and our family in your prayers. Please continue to pray for a speedy recovery for Stacy and for her trach to be removed within the next week or so.  We will continue to provide updates, and we encourage you to leave comments for Stacy.  She does use the computer for short amounts of time, and is a real whiz at texting!!!! We  hope everyone out there had a good Christmas.