The daily grind begins...

We had another great night and D is doing fine.  He continues to amaze us as he just handles all the little things that have to be done.  We are down to over the counter ibuprofen for drugs (yeh!) and he isn't complaining of any pain.  Just miraculous!  We have our first home PT this afternoon so we'll see how that goes and we let him know home school starts tomorrow!

Buster, who rarely hangs out upstairs, is now by D's beside being the faithful guard dog he is.  Although as soon as Buster hears anyone in the kitchen, he jumps to that local... Dogs will be dogs and someone has to clean up the floor...

So we continue to work out the little things to facilitate D's learning, entertainment and /or personal needs.  All and all, life is good!

Watching a little Mario Brothers while Buster is on Guard

It was a good day...

"Dad, thank you for taking care of me"....

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and suffice to say we had a fun day and Donovan is doing well!  So I'll let the pictures of the day will tell you the rest of the story......

The "E" Clan, Aunt Julie, Emma and Carl

Great day with Cousin Ricky!

First night at home...

Donovan had a good night!  He slept well, woke up enough to get his meds at 5am and go back to sleep.  He got up at 9am, watched a little tv and ate a good breakfast.  He is been playing with the "E Bros" (cousin's Eric, Elliot and Emmet), Carl, and Emma, with remote control cars while he is in the wheel chair.  When we got him in the chair he told me "Dad, I like being pushed around in the wheel chair".  He also told me this morning as he finished up breakfast "Dad, I like being lazy all day"!

It is amazing how well he is handling all of this.  Rarely complains.  Just does what we ask of him with meds, shifting him in his bed every two hours, and all the other items with being bed and wheel chair bound.  Everytime we get him situated he puts his hands behind his head and says "AAAHHH, that feels good"!

Yesterday, after we got him settled in and I got the Wii working with the TV he said to us, "My life is very good"!

Imagine that after this surgery....  His is our gift.....

Home is where you hang your hat....

We are home.  Donovan is settled in the "D Cave" (formally the Wii Cave, formally the Man Cave). 

A huge thank you to our great friend and Donovan's Chauffeur, Mr. Bill.  Took time to drive his big truck with the huge bench seat in the back and carried our treasure home.  Thanks Bill!

 

Bill's Bait and Chauffeur Service

So the day started with the normal getting ready to move home and a big surprise from the Johnson's cousins to escort Donovan home.  Thanks Ricky, Elliot and Emmit (and Aunt Sarah)!

Wii Minds at work...

Finally we headed out to our ride home.  It was a little tricky but with the help of Nurse Josh, we got Donovan in his harness and strapped in for the ride.

Thumbs up and ready to ride.

It was a smooth ride home in the old ford truck and Donovan even took a short nap!  When he woke up he was ready to be home!

Refreshed after the nap!

Going home!

Discharge papers written and we are going home!!

Steve

Excuse my thumbs. Sent from my PDA.

616.292.0000 cell

Final Words for the Night

Donovan feel asleep tonight in the middle of repeating... "I want to stay here... I want to stay here... I want to..."  A sure sign he's feeling good enough to go home as he's recognizing how awesome the care is here.  Many, many thanks to all the people that have taken such good care of our Donovan!

Amber and Schyler removing Donovan's IV

The rewards of good sleep and a long day...

After a hard day of Wii playing and being Dad and Mom's teaching tool today, Donovan finally agreed to an excursion.  Made it just in time to get a treat from the Balk Cafe Ice Cream counter.

And a few rounds of playing at the interactive wall in the lobby.

Life is good with a Wii and your friends...

Just before I headed home tonight, Donovan agreed I could capture Carl, Iggy (my name) and him playing a little Wii.  The smiles say everything!

Mario Rules!!

Just the Wii dad, Just the Wii.  That about sums up Donovan's desires today, that and Pizza, pepperoni pizza dad.  Lunch and dinner (sausage for breakfast, but he'd eat pizza if we let him).  To be fair, the pizza place here at the hospital is very good.

Donovan spent the day off the IV, no morphine since 3am, and if all goes well tonight,,,, home tomorrow!!  Bridget and I practiced all day moving him around the bed, in and out of the wheel chair and generally taking care of him.  He has not complained about pain as we have moved him around.  He took a long nap today in preparation of a fun night with Emma and Carl.  Yup, more Wii, only with his favorite play mate on the Wii.

Mom and dad are fine.  Dad went home last night.  Mom stayed with D and watched him sleep from 8pm to 9am, with only a 4am medical check to interrupt a great night sleep. No pictures today.  Donovan didn't agree to any today.

So we pray all goes well tonight so we can go home tomorrow.  Our great friend Bill, is bringing his new truck with 4 doors and a big bench seat in the back, to chauffeur Donovan.  Donovan's legs have to stay straight with knee braces holding them in place, so we need a long bench seat to strap him in.  We have a special harness to put him in so as he sits, with legs across the seat, we can buckle him into the seat belts.  In fact, Donovan is very excited about using his harness and being able to "relax" while riding.

I know Donovan will want pictures of that!

A long and active day

The day after surgery is no fun!...  If Donovan could think straight enough to summarize his day, I'm sure he'd be saying this.  The good news is that there was no sign of a fever!  The amazing news is that he did get out of bed today, twice!  Even did a lap out in the halls to snag the available Wii (all in one unit on wheels) which was a Godsend as the distraction was very much needed today.  Getting out of bed means three people transferring him to a reclined wheelchair.  It is so amazing to me... less than 24 hours after having two major bones cut, repositioned and put back together, muscles moved, ligaments lengthened and he got out of bed!

The harder parts of today were the pain he is dealing with and the frustrations he has.  The pain is not apparent until he is moved (repositioning every two hours... even at night... is critical to keeping him from getting sores).  The frustration is over not being able to stand or move as he's used to and a few bothersome itches where we can't get to them.  But Donovan is this amazing child who even when he's uncomfortable will express his feelings clearly and then move on to the next thing.  He also just simply needs some good sleep and tonight it solidly started by 8:30!  Pray it continues until at least 8:30 in the morn!