We are home!

So this post is a little late, but as the saying goes, better late than never. We landed in New Orleans yesterday afternoon, and boy does it feel good to be home. The whole time we were there, Jason kept saying he was ready to get home. The instant that we hit the runway, it hit me too. I was homesick. I missed my dogs, my bed, my porch, my bathtub. 

The flights went so smooth this go round. It's safe to say that Parker loves flying. Every time the plane accelerates to take off or slams the breaks at landing, he bounces up and down, laughing and clapping. Everyone around us thought it was hysterical. 

The first leg of the trip from Philadelphia to Tampa was mighty quiet. Jason and I actually got to watch a whole movie, because Parker slept almost the whole way. The night before he didn't sleep well. He has been fighting what we call the "snooky nose". His nose is constantly leaking, which leads to gagging and coughing. We try to elevate him in his crib at night, but he squirms so much that he usually ends up in the opposite direction. It got to the point that night that I put him in bed with me, and Jason got kicked to the floor. Around 5:45 in the morning he woke up choking on snot and threw up everywhere. That was it, he was up for good now. This is why he was so eager to get to sleep at 11:30 a.m. when the plane took off. Jason was holding him while he slept and poor things hand was numb after about 45 minutes. 

When we landed in Tampa, we didn't have to switch planes. That proved to be extremely convenient. We didn't have to unload all of our carry-ons, wait for them to offload the stroller, and trek across the airport to another terminal. We just sat on the plane and waited for new passengers to board. That is definitely the way to go. Parker, however, disagreed. He did not like sitting there, with no movement, in his cramped little space. 

The flight from Tampa to New Orleans was super short at only an hour and ten minutes. Jason loved it, though. We came in to New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico, so he got to see all the old places that he traveled on the tug boat, from up above. I got a mini lesson on where everything is, and so did the passengers around us. 

When we got to the airport, our good friend, and taxi driver for the day, Erin, was there waiting for us at baggage claims. Good thing, too. Once again, I don't know how we would have gotten everything to the car by ourselves. We were lucky that morning at PHL, because the Hertz rental manager dropped us off right at curbside and they checked our bags there. 

When we got home, the first place Parker went was to his toy room. We had limited space in the bags for toys, so he was a little deprived this week. I'm pretty sure he missed all of his toys. 

Today, my husband was determined to do something outdoors. He spends a good deal of time on the patio normally, and being cooped up in the apartment most of the week took a toll on him. So at 8:00 this morning, they were outside cooking spaghetti. He was a happy man. 

So, I've gotten the question, "what's next". I mentioned it in other posts, but just to clarify, I'll explain again. Parker will only be receiving a kidney transplant at this time. He may or may not need a liver transplant down the road. It is unknown at this time. The kidney transplant and immunosuppressants could cause the liver to deteriorate more rapidly, but they will make adjustments in an attempt to prevent this. Right now, the team in Philadelphia is reviewing Parker's file and CT scans once more, and waiting on Tulane to fax over Patty's records. Once they receive Patty's records at the Hospital of the University of Penn (the adult hospital connected to CHOP), they will schedule Patty to go up there for any further testing and evaluations needed. Once her evaluations are complete, they will meet as a team and hopefully approve our case and Patty as a donor. Once everything is approved, not only by them, but also by insurance,they will schedule surgery. I have also been told that surgery should be within the next 6 weeks to 3 months. They do not tend to do transplants after the month of October due to cold/flu/RSV season. 

I was also asked why we had to go to Philadelphia in the first place. Well, typically surgeons and insurances will not allow a surgery to take place when they have not physically seen a patient. We met with every doctor and specialist that is part of the transplant team there and also repeated blood work. 

As of right now, this is all of the information that we have. I will leave you with this, my favorite picture of the day. 

Yes my husband has been annoyed with my camera in his face. I'm trying to let him get the hint that he should do it, too. :)