No Place Like Home

Loaded and ready.

It seems that Dorothy was right.  There is no place like home, and Camille finally made it.   

Last Wednesday and Thursday left Miss C with many to-do’s on her list in order to get signed off for discharge.  Progress was thwarted a bit by foot swelling, which prompted cutting her left cast this time to relieve pressure (#groundhogday), but when all was said and done, by Friday at noon, she had all of her tubes out, was re-casted in Creighton Blue on both legs from the knee down, and was transitioned to oral pain medications and ready to literally slide into the Honda Odyssey to make the trek back to Omaha.  The lights of home never looked so good, until Bill and I managed to thoroughly traumatize Camille, Livvy, Jack and Vinny in the process of trying to get her inside the house.  Yet, as life would have it, Saturday was a new day and Camille has rocked her recovery in typical Camille style ever since. 

Many have asked for updates, and I have been quite the slacker in providing them.  Somehow, time in the hospital passes so quickly; as it so happens, when one comes home to two other kids, a dog, and a life to maintain, life goes even faster. 

Truth be told, things are going better than expected, and I expect that being home has perked our girl up quite a bit.  We knew that pain tolerance was a superhuman trick of hers--I sometimes wonder if her glaucoma as a toddler did some kind of wacky reset.  Regardless, we were determined that she wouldn’t feel inclined to play the hero, but she was truly ready to ditch her muscle relaxants yesterday and decided herself to wean off of the daytime narcs today, so subsisted on Tylenol alone during her waking hours.  After our less-than-graceful attempt at getting her settled Friday night, we were a bit concerned with how transitions in and out of bed would go, but we’ve settled into a routine and the girl is nearly taking care of things on her own with only leg support thanks to her always amazing upper body strength.  She will certainly have enviable upper body musculature by the time all is said and done. 

With her best caregiver AND a super yummy
surprise from Sara and Joe. 

Tomorrow, we try to settle back into more of a rhythm.  Bill and I will take turns working and staying home; we are terribly fortunate to have supportive gigs.  Camille will also ease back into the routine of school, thankfully provided at home until Christmas break by a school district and team who have just championed her cause and come to see her for the bright and committed student she is.  We are inexplicably grateful for the way her team has rallied around her. 

We are equally grateful for our tribe of people who have been physically and remotely present for her and for us.  My parents held down the home-front here last week.  We were graced by a meal coordinated and delivered to the hospital in St. Paul by Lisa and our Framily at Outlook Nebraska (!).  Sara (our past nanny and forever friend) and her husband, Joe, had a super yummy edible arrangement delivered to our house Saturday to brighten the mood.  Aunt Sissy was, as always, our constant yesterday and today, relieving me so I could go watch Jack play some basketball and generally doing the spirit-lifting that she always pulls off so effortlessly.

  

Calls, messages and care packages from so many have lifted our girl so high and made her feel the love.   Jack has doted on her and certainly been her sports-watching companion.  Vinny has sufficiently sniffed all of the new sniffable things brought inside as a part of her recovery and parked himself next to bedside quite gently. 

Burgers and shakes coordinated for delivery
by Lisa and Outlook Nebraska

Perhaps most deserving of praise is Liv, who has the heartiest of hearts and an empathy-filled soul.  She felt very strongly about passing on her weekend activities in order to be an integral part of her sister’s care in every possible way-- from helping with transfers to shampooing hair to card playing to whatever the moment called for.  She earnestly told me a couple of months back when we were preparing for this surgery that if Camille ever had to have anything done like this as an adult, she would temporarily move Camille into her house, work from home and take care of her until she recovered.  Without being asked, she has done the pre-teen version of this over the past weekend.  Perhaps the most beautiful part of this gesture is that I believe she wants to give to Camille so much because she realizes all that Camille has given to her. 

So what does the near future hold?  Healing without bearing any weight for the next 5 weeks.  Returning to Minneapolis to be de-casted the week before Christmas.  Then, the real work begins of getting up, learning new moves, and building up the strength to be mobile again.  Then, more work to be mobile even better than before.  That is our hope, with no guarantees, as is the case in life.   

Thank you, friends, family and framily.  All our love.