Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Mattie had another late night on saturday. He woke up today and was in fine spirits. Even with all of his pain meds turned completely OFF! As I was driving to the hospital this morning, Peter called me on my cell phone and told me that Mattie requested a happy meal. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but today was the Marine Corp Marathon, and the traffic flow around Foggybottom was difficult to say the least. But I was motivated, and finally found my way to a McDonald's. When I arrived at the hospital, Mattie devoured his meal, and he always checks to make sure I got him a "boy" toy in his happy meal. I have learned my lessson NEVER to pull away from the drive thru before checking. Mattie shared with me how his morning went and that Anna's friend, Brad, came up from the PT department to work with him. Brad wanted to see if Mattie could walk up stairs. Mattie did it one, two, three. However, as I have observed Mattie today, he is unsure on his feet. Probably because he was confined to a bed or a chair most of the week.

Mattie had two special visitors today, Emily W. and her boyfriend, Adam. Emily was one of Mattie's most recent babysitters. Emily has known Mattie for over two years, and when she found out about Mattie's illness she was very upset, and writes to me often. Emily now lives in NY, but she came down to visit the DC area, and was determined to visit with Mattie. Emily and Adam came into Mattie's room and showered him with gifts, from donuts, cupcakes, halloween cookies, legos, and even glow in the dark Gak! The glow in the dark gak was a MAJOR hit. Below you will see some pictures I took of the fun they were all having together. I would say they were in the halloween spirit, wouldn't you?
Emily and Mattie. As you can see the color of the Gak inspired Mattie to be very creative or gross, depending on your view point.

Adam, Emily, and Mattie. They were all in the halloween spirit!

Emily and Adam entertained Mattie for over an hour. Mattie had a great time with them, he learned some magic tricks, and had a chance to be silly. Thank you for spending the afternoon with us and also THANK YOU for helping us pack up Mattie's room and carry things to the car. If felt like old times today, and it was nice to see Emily and Mattie pick up where they left off in their friendship.

Dr. Bob Henshaw visited Mattie today at around 2:30pm. Bob changed Mattie's arm dressing and removed the perineural tube from Mattie's arm. Mattie watched the whole process, and did not flinch at the sight of his stitches. Mattie is quite a trooper, and he has a wonderful rapport with Bob. They continued joking about Sparky's middle name, and Mattie desperately wants to know who Bob's spys are that tell him how Mattie is doing! It is a lot of fun to watch, and what amazes me is how well Mattie is doing with all of this. It is the beauty of being a child! Because as an adult, I find myself reflecting on the possible pain, or the fact that Mattie's arm will always have a large scar, or the fact that he will have limited mobility. Mattie doesn't see these possible consequences. Instead, he takes each day as it comes, and in all reality he seems fascinated by the surgical pictures and how it transformed his body into the bionic boy. Needless to say, I take my cues from Mattie, and it is his positive attitude that helps me. Ironic, no? I would think I am the one who should be helping him during this time! Of course, I know I do, but his attitude is admirable and is infectious.

At around 3:30pm, we were discharged from the hospital. We mobilized like the wind, since Peter wanted to be able to help us move out before he had to leave for his business trip. I left armed with a pain management plan and the knowledge that I could call Bob if any problem arose this week. This alone is very comforting!

My parents helped us pack up as well, and they took all of Mattie's prescriptions and went to go get them filled at the pharmacy, while Mattie and I headed home with Emily and Adam. We dropped Emily and Adam off in Foggybottom, and I know Mattie hopes to see Emily again before she goes back to NY. When in our garage, I helped Mattie out of the car. We took it slow, but he is unsteady on his feet, and almost fell in the parking lot, so I realize I need to keep a very close eye on him the next day or so. Mattie headed straight to his legos when he got home, and has transitioned very well to being home. Mattie and my mom were talking about dressing up for Halloween tonight, and Mattie got a hold of a witch's hat our neighbor, Goli, gave us last year. Mattie loves wearing the hat, and you will see this in the picture below. We are now all focused on halloween and Mattie is getting into the spirit of the occasion.



We want to thank the Cooper's for dinner tonight. They were away visiting family today, but despite their long trip back home, they made sure we had food tonight. Thank you Campbell and Livi for hand delivering it to us. We all enjoyed it! Sometimes I get so involved with Mattie and unpacking that I forget to eat, so dinner came at just the right time!

On the electronic front, we want to thank Coach Dave for his lovely e-mail. We are so happy to hear that Mattie could inspire the team on saturday despite the fact that it was such a rainy day. They are a special group of young men, led by a very special coach! Thank you Charlotte for your wonderful pictures and video today. Mattie felt like you were here with him.

I am not sure what the evening holds for us. But it is nice to be out of the hospital on so many levels! At the moment Mattie is watching videos with my parents as he is settling down. So far he has watched Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost (thanks Melissa!) and Wordworld's Kooky Spooky Halloween (thanks Junko!). We are officially halloween central here!