Yesterday was pretty crazy. Will had remained stable, so it was finally decided that he could leave the hospital. He was inpatient for 11 days.

Becky G called me that morning and invited me to lunch with some women from church. It was so lovely to be normal for a few hours and to chat about life and listen to the adventures of other women and their families and to laugh with a friend. Laughter is such a gift.

I returned to the hospital and Will was finally awake and actually showered. I helped redress the stoma (the opening through which the trach was placed...it is still healing) and Mica, our nurse from the previous surgery who also was his first nurse on this trip, deaccessed his port. We were finally ready to leave. Billy and Will loaded the car while I headed to the pharmacy to pick up a few prescriptions.

We then headed to pick up new brace pads. Since Will is going to be in this neck brace at least another few months, he really needs new pads. The old ones are not so cushiony anymore and the brace is beginning to rub where it should not. We know the pads for the old, smaller brace were expensive ($50) so I expected these to be more expensive...but $200 per set??? No way! He needs the pads...so what to do. I called Will's case manager with our insurance company (insurance does NOT cover these.), but she is unavailable. The receptionist is about as apalled as I am, so she calls someone while I am on the phone with Larissa's voicemail. Alas, I have no answers, but she said that they will sell both sets to me for $200 total. Somehow that sounds so much better than $400...but still!

We leave the brace shop, and it is now 430. We are supposed to meet Becky and Keith R at Dixie Chili in Newport for dinner. Will is feeling great, so we head that direction. (We beat them there so I found a great yarn shop next door that I got to browse through!) We had such a pleasant conversation over dinner, then we headed back to the RMH.

We packed up everything we did not need so Billy could take it with him today. Then we sat down and watched the 4th Harry Potter movie. I am exhausted and so ready for bed but Will is going strong. :)

........

Billy did indeed leave early this afternoon. He has a very full car and our room is significantly more empty. Charlie, our pilot on the first leg tomorrow, has checked in with us and we meet him at ten at Lunken. The hospital shuttle will pick us up at 915 and drop us off at the airport. We should be in Fredericksburg in the early afternoon.

It will be very good to be home...but there is also concern. Will will have to return in a week, so we have three days of travel in less than two weeks. That could be challenging for him. I am only home for one week, and there will be lots of ground to cover in that week so it will be stressful.

There are apparently volunteers who are willing to make most of our Thanksgiving dinner and deliver it on Wednesday. That is such a huge blessing. I know I will need to go to the grocery store (I have been gone for basically a month!), prepare for yet another week long absence, order meds and IV supplies for Will for this week as well as our week of travel, make reservations for Cincinnati (AGAIN), and repack. Then there is this whole, "Did you know that Christmas is only 35 days away?" Are you SERIOUS? I can't comprehend Thanksgiving and now I have to consider Christmas. I am so in trouble. :)

So, Will and I are just about packed. We are heading home to hang out with the family for a week, and then we head back. I really should consider having a locker at the airport where I leave one set of clothes and my very essential hair dryer so I can just fly back and forth without packing the kitchen sink every time. :)