(Big Dominic Update)
November and December have been crazy months so far, and unfortunately my blogging has suffered. As has my reading for that matter, but I am tempted to blame it on the book I am reading currently (it didn't grab me as quickly as the last one. OH the never ending struggles with sequels this year....)
Dominic did do well overnight after his cath in Edmonton and we did end up driving home on Friday. Roland and I had discussed exactly what our plan was depending on Dominic's discharge time. We decided that if Dominic got discharged prior to 2:00pm, then we would drive home that day (whatever day "that" may be), because we would be able to pack up and get out of town by 3:00pm and thus, be home by 9:00pm Saskatoon time. The Cath doctor had told us the evening before that Dom seemed to be doing well, and it was procedure to do an ECHO and a chest xray before discharge after a cath, so that was expected for first thing in the morning so that we could get discharged and free up a bed for someone else. Bright and early a porter showed up to escort us for Xrays and it seemed like a good sign. Things moving along so fast. After we got back from the Xrays, the Cath doctor came in and said he had seen the chest xrays and they looked good, and asked if we had gotten the ECHO yet. When I said we hadn't he asked us to inform our nurse to page him as soon as we're back from it, he will look at it ASAP and get us out of here. Then we waited, and waited, and waited for this ECHO. Just before lunch they finally called us. Dom wasn't exactly perfectly cooperative, but we were back on the unit by 12:30 and lunch made him far happier. We told our nurse that the doc wanted to be paged when the ECHO was done, and then we waited some more. Roland was with us in the room by then and we really wanted to know what the deal was, because I thought it would be quick once the ECHO was done, but nothing seemed to be happening. At about 1:15, we talked to the nurse about it and she said that any discharges need to go through the discharge nurse and that could take a while. A few hours depending on how busy she was. Roland and I groaned, and then made a plan to stay another night in Edmonton. At about 1:30pm, just as I was putting on my jacket to go back to the hotel for a shower (I felt stinky from not showering the night before and being in the hospital so long), the nurse came in with all of our papers for discharge. A few signatures here and there, a confirmation that we understood his discharge instructions, and we were outta there! It ended up being pretty tight, but we were just happy to get home. Rosalie waited up to see us, and I cuddled her to sleep that night.
Recovery at home went just as smoothly, no issues whatsoever. Dominic saw Cardiology earlier this week and they are very impressed with how much this cath helped out his heart and so he is finally cleared for his next procedure: His cleft palate repair!
I have made a point of being very communicative with Plastics about where we are after the whole snafu back in September, so the Monday after we got back from Edmonton, I called first thing in the morning to let them know that he had the cath and that the doctors said everything went well. The receptionist told me that they were just talking about him and had "penciled him in for January 5th" but needed a clear confirmation from cardiology that he was in the clear first. I was happy to hear that they had a date for him, but also a bit disappointed. I know that having too many procedures close together isn't really a good idea, but I wanted his palate to be repaired sooner than January. This has been such a long time coming that I was hoping for sooner, but at the same time I didn't want it interrupting Xmas either... So, it's fine. I should really stop whining. It's fine. And Dom was indeed deemed all clear by cardiology this week, so I got a call from Plastics today stating that everything is a go! The dentist that is involved in the procedure is only available first thing in the morning, so we already know he'll be first case, and that's how I prefer it. Fasting a baby before a surgery is always easier when they are asleep for most of it, and then if the surgery happens before he would normally eat anyway, that's even better. Being first case ensures this. We have been fortunate so far that each and every one of his procedures have been first case. The only negative is that we have to get up so early (to the hospital by 5:30 in Edmonton, 6:30 in Saskatoon, surgery at 8:00 or 9:00 respectively), but I sleep like crap the night before anyway, better to get it out of the way first thing.
SO I think y'all are all caught up now!
Although I am far from it. I am still 3 book reviews behind, I want to talk about my return to work (NOT at the jail, mind you...), and the never ending shenanigans with EI... but I'll get there. Baby steps. Soon enough. Sorry for the delay. I'll try to do better...
