We decided to leave on Wednesday night after Timmy's mommy got home from work, but because I did not have time to pack earlier, we did not end up leaving home until 10pm on Wednesday night! Timmy fell asleep watching his mommy and daddy pack. He slept in his mommy's arms all the way out to the car and did not even wake up when she put him in his carseat. He woke up several hours later and looked around with a very confused expression on his face. He could not figure out how he went to sleep in his crib and woke up somewhere in western Maryland!
(If you are very observant, you will notice that this picture was taken during the daytime, not at night. That is because we did not have a picture of our road trip to Cincinnati, so I have included a picture from a week or so earlier, that was taken right after Timmy's daddy got caught in a rainstorm.)
Timmy's mommy and daddy were worried that Timmy would be in the car too much over the weekend, so they decided that one of the trips needed to happen while Timmy was sleeping. So we drove all night long. Several times Timmy's mommy and daddy were so tired that they asked me to take over. This moose drove all through the night, without getting even a single speeding ticket! Around 6:00 am, we were about half an hour from Columbus, and we all decided that we just could not drive any more. Since Timmy did not offer to take over, we pulled over at a rest stop and snoozed for twenty minutes or so. That was just enough time to give this moose the extra boost that he needed to finish the drive to Columbus! On the way into town, we passed Timmy's Aunt Sara on her way to work. We honked very loud and she was very surprised to see us! She thought we were not coming until later! Then we had fun surprising Timmy's grandma before she left for work. Timmy loves being back in Ohio!
But this moose is beginning to ramble too much. The important thing is that we arrived in Columbus, and that afternoon we drove to Cincinnati. The next morning was Timmy's daddy's birthday and the day of Timmy's big scope! To celebrate, we got up around 4am and were at the hospital before 6:00. On the way, I told Timmy's mommy and daddy that I was glad that the scope was early in the morning, because that meant there would be no delays. Boy, was I wrong! One of the first things we found out when we got there was that all the ORs were on an hour delay.
But that was okay, because it gave this moose plenty of time to explain his concerns to Timmy's doctors. And once again, we were incredibly impressed with the amazingness of Cincinnati Children's. This moose told Timmy's ENT doctor that we were very concerned about Timmy's increased reflux (too much stomach acid could damage his cleft repair in his throat). Ten minutes later, the GI doctor that Timmy saw a long time ago walked into the room to give us advice! he stuck around for the scope, too, and he had lots of useful things to tell Timmy's mommy and daddy and me. We are excited about this, because we want Timmy to be able to drink and eat as much as he wants without worrying about vomiting.
I am sure that all of you are getting bored with my long story and just want to hear the results of the scope. Timmy's mommy and daddy and I were all very anxious, too. We were very concerned that Timmy's increased reflux had done some damage to his surgery site. But we were wrong! Timmy's surgery site still looks good. The rest of his airway does not look as good, though. It is still floppy and swollen and small and full of scar tissue. We also found out that parts of Timmy's airways are smaller than a normal, newborn baby. That is very confusing to us, because Timmy is huge! He weighs 17 pounds now, so we do not know why his airway is not growing with the rest of his body. Timmy's doctors want to see him back in two months (instead of waiting the normal three). They say that is because they are worried about Timmy, but I think it is just because they miss me. (My suspicions were confirmed when they said that they want to keep Timmy for multiple days of tests in October. I do not think Timmy really needs a chest CAT scan or another scope or an impedance test. I just think our friends in Cincinnati want to spend more time with us.)
After Timmy's scope, his mommy and daddy got to go and see him. They were expecting a completely out of control Timmy. But I had whispered to the anesthesiologists that maybe they should try adding Fetanyl to Timmy's drug cocktail. And it worked! Timmy's mommy and daddy found a very sleepy, but otherwise fairly normal Timmy.
After awhile, Timmy was recovered enough to stop needing oxygen, and we got to leave the PACU. Then came the best part-we got to visit our old home up in the NICU!! And we were so excited, because we got to get hugs and kisses from some of our favorite people in the whole, wide world. But we forgot to do one really important thing--take pictures! So this moose is very, very sad. Next time we visit, we will remember! (We also wish we could have taken a cake with us to celebrate Timmy's daddy's birthday, but there are silly rules in the NICU that say we are not allowed to have birthday cake there.)
Soon after we left the NICU, we got in the car to drive back to Columbus. I am going to end my story for now, but it is not over. Sometime soon I will tell you about the next part of the story. Just to give you a hint, Cincinnati Children's was not the last hospital we visited on Friday...
Thanks for the update and the pictures, Mortimer! ;~)
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