*I wrote a bunch of this last night, but apparently, I fell asleep with the computer on my lap in the middle of the update and woke up at midnight. I was so tired I could hardly stagger to my bed, so there was no way I was finishing. Time to start over ....*

Here's the main point of the update ... We are home!

Yesterday morning the nurse came in and asked if Abigail had only drank 3 oz of fluids yesterday after being cleared .... ummmm, hmmmm oopsie ..... that's the moment I realized how little she did drink. She tried many choices ... lemonade, water, water ice, ginger ale, but it occurred to me that after everything she tried, she pushed it away. I woke thinking of home (and had started packing) and I knew Abigail would continue healing so much better there, so I made it my mission to help Abigail along. Everyone wanted us to go home (I won't take that personally), so even without proving she could handle liquids, they moved her to solids (which was a good solid move on their part - see what I did there)! I immediately ordered her a breakfast tray, which even by sight/smell, made her lose her appetite, ah the joys of hospital food (I know they really try but it's just not so great). I journeyed downstairs looking for a smoothie - bingo! She drank a few ounces, which was a win. Normally, if either of my children only drank a couple of ounces of a $6 smoothie, we'd have a lesson on not wasting money, but today I could have cared less. 

Around this time, Abigail's pain and nausea spiked and she started shutting down mentally. When she's in a spiral of pain, she cannot answer a single answer with any other answer than "I don't know"! Abigail where is your pain ... "I don't know" ... do you feel nauseous "I don't know" ... what's your level of pain 1-10 "I don't know" ... She is probably the smartest 14 year I know, and truly remembers everything, but in those moments, everything is gone. I get where it stems from, but it is still frustrating. 

I went to the cafeteria and took pictures of anything I thought she might try to eat and texted her, and she landed on cookies and cream ice cream as her first solid food of choice. She ate about half of the serving - whew. She also munched on a pita bread we had in the room. Every bite, even if small, was a good sign. Abigail had not eaten or drank anything since Tuesday, so it's not surprising her body wanted to start slow.

Dr. Dehmer was back yesterday and he stopped by to check on Abigail. To be discharged, we needed his blessing and the doctor on the peds floor (we already had the doctor's blessing). Dr. Dehmer was very pleased with Abigail's progress, and asked Abigail if she wanted to go home ... the big smile answered... oh right, and Abigail smiled too ;)

So she received her marching orders but with restrictions of course. Same as last time, so nothing we didn't already know, but just like a review before a big exam, it was a good refresher.

1. Don't lift anything over 15# for 2 weeks, including her backpack. Miles loooooves this one because this allows him to help Abigail into her school for the next 2 weeks ... sense the sarcasm lol .... Abigail isn't a big fan of this one because her friends were SO amazing last time, they wouldn't even let her carry her water bottle. To be fair, she had one of those ridiculous 40oz Stanley's that could double as a weapon, and yeah, those bad boys are heavy but I'm pretty sure it falls under the 14# mark! Abigail knows everyone was doing it out of love though.

2. No contact sports for 4 weeks. This one is the biggest bummer of all. She just started school soccer, and it will be her last season playing. She managed to have 1 week of practice and 1 game before all of these shenanigans started. Abigail wants to still go to practice and be part of the team, but scrimmages and games can't happen for her right now. I counted the weeks and since it looks like there are 5 weeks left,  she might be able to slide in right at the end. We shall see, but I give her kudos for still wanting to go to practice (she can do drills just no scrimmaging - starting next week I'm guessing). She just really loves being part of a team so much!

3. If she feels up to it, which I'm guessing she will, she can return to school on Wednesday (tomorrow)!

After we were released yesterday, she immediately wanted to shower (whew), but after a week in a hospital bed, the back of her hair was giving major Bob Marley vibes ... after about 45 minutes of working each section little by little, I was able to release her straight hair from the dreadlock hold that had taken over. Yet another step towards feeling normal!

As I weave humor in my writing, I never do it to take away from the seriousness of a situation, it's simply a coping mechanism and truly the way I talk. Humor is medicine too ... but if you ask Abigail, my humor is likely not as strong as the morphine. 

It's 10:15  am, and she's still sleeping - I asked her if she wanted me to wake her in the middle of the night to take vitals for old times sake (old times = yesterday); she declined, well, I'm sure the stare she gave me was a polite "no thank you".  She's been sleeping 12 hours!!

Thank you so much for all your prayers for Abigail and our family. We certainly felt them. Through our struggles, we grow closer to God. I would ask you to keep Abigail on your prayer list, particularly for a full recovery, but there are so many others going through so much, so even if you don't personally know their names/situations, please place them at the foot of the cross - Jesus knows them.

As we heard our good news yesterday about being discharged, another family was experiencing the pain of saying goodbye. As I was in the parking lot getting our car to pick Abigail up, I went up to a lady (who looked to be the Grandma) and told her I would pray for her family. She and her large family had been walking the peds floor hallway for the past 2 days (we saw each other in passing frequently) and it didn't take long to figure out what was happening. She gave me a huge hug and said "She's gone".  That family experienced the loss of their 3-year-old girl yesterday. I don't know their names or the situation, but God does, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

After arriving home, almost instantly life was jump-started to reality again, and that meant laundry and making lunches. It's OK though, while I don't love those things, yesterday I was happy to do them because they brought a sense of normalcy. Although today, I might run the dryer a few times simply to avoid the folding part that comes next ... ya know, to get them extra dry *wink wink*

Love you all!