Home again, home again...

Here are a few pictures from recovery after surgery. We were in there about three hours so we had some time to take turns seeing her. Staci came to visit so she got to sit in there a bit and actually got some really great pictures I'll post when I get them (hint hint Staci to email them).

This was her recovery nurse who was really great. She and another nurse took special care of Jordan finding her special stuffed animals, allowing us to break the rules by having more than just mom in there. At this point I was getting so tired with no sleep and no food and having others in to visit was such a blessing. They took x-rays of her foot to double check the position, they took blood to check her levels which kept coming out low. They were all really so great to us.

I love this picture of Jordan and her Papa. She may be a Mama's girl but she sure does love her Papa, Pop Pop and Grandpa. She knows she has them wrapped around her finger. Papa (Shan's dad) has been at all her surgeries and it's hard to imagine a hospital stay without him cracking us up all day.

Jordan was really unhappy most of the time in the hospital, not eating, not drinking, not caring about cartoons and really unwilling to even wear her princess costume for the Halloween festivities. Finally we made her put on her costume along with Noah and she began to brighten up a bit. We wheeled them to the Child Life room for a magic show and some fun.

Noah now thinks this hospital stuff is really fun! Cartoons, popsicles and toys all while kicking back in an electric bed that moves up and down.

Here's the wonderful magician! He was SO funny and the kids loved him. He was making them laugh and drawing all of them out so well. There were so many very, very sick kids. You really wouldn't believe it. Each one of us should thank God for our children's health. One teenage boy sitting behind us kept smiling at Jordan and she was just batting her eyelashes at him. We saw him later in the hall and he said with such a sweet smile, "Hi Jordan!" Oh my heart breaks for these kids. Honestly these are the sickest kids who many of which spend a great deal of their childhoods living in the hospital. Their parents have to work and take care of siblings so much of their time is spent alone or with nurses. It's really heartbreaking and so hard to leave them there. I also saw a little girl who just had her palate repaired and had previously had her cleft lip repaired. The fresh air, the play, the time laughing around other kids and the magician really helped Jordan turn a corner. It's amazing - she was almost back to her old self after the Halloween outing. I think some day I want to volunteer or work as a Child Life Specialist. What a job that would be.

There wasn't anything they could do for Jordan at the hospital that we couldn't do at home so we got to come home. Jordan is still VERY clingy to Mama but is really getting back to herself more and more. Here's a picture of her being silly. The real challenge is making her sit. She isn't allowed to put any weight on her leg/foot yet all she wants to do is walk around. She is too heavy with the cast on and it's too awkward for me to carry around so we were planning on using a stroller. The therapist told us today that the stroller won't work for a while because she needs to keep her leg elevated so she ordered a pediatric wheelchair for Jordan. It will be covered by our insurance and should really help. She tried to teach Jordan to use a walker to hop on her good leg but the cast is too long so she isn't able to do it. The Physical Therapist is concernced that Jordan's progress with walking will not be worth much if she doesn't walk for six weeks. There isn't much that can be done about it though. The wheelchair should be delivered tomorrow and I can't wait so she can get around and we can get out of this house.


I was and am more than exhuasted tonight but thankfully Shan rallied and convinced us to take the kids around the block trick or treating. I was so resistant but now I'm glad we went. My mom liked being a part of it and the kids had a good time. Noah wore the knight costume again and Jordan was his princess.

She was on her pain medication so she was perfectly content sitting in the stroller eating her way around the block as people gave her candy. You can see in this picture how her foot needs to be elevated. It isn't all that comfortable being scrunched down like that especially once she's off the meds. :) We'll hold on to the stroller incase the wheelchair doesn't get delivered and then to use once we return the chair.

Okay this post is long enough. We are going to bed. We promised the kids whatever they wanted tomorrow. We'll be having M&M pancakes (using Halloween candy) and we will be out in the fresh air as long as it's warm enough. I can't wait to spend the day doing normal family things with the kids and with Shan and my mom. Thank you all SO much for praying and for sending us messages. What a gift you all are.

For you Compass Bible Church friends I am really hoping to make it to church on Sunday. She will probably still be on pain medication so I would think she might just sit through the service without needing to go to Kids Ministry which I'm not sure if we can put her in yet until we get her used to not bearing weight on that leg.

Thank you again!!!!!

Much love,

Jen