Seven days...

Yesterday it hit us...the seventh day melt down, that's what we refer to what happens to our family with every admission at around the one week mark.  After seven days we are all feeling the effects of being separated, stressed, off our schedules... We're all tired, lonely, scared, stressed, bored, worried, craving home cooking, craving normalcy, and in need of a healthy dose of family time.  Usually after a week we have an idea of how and where things are going, it helps us to mentally prepare for what lies ahead.   The number one question our kids have with each and every admission..."When are Mommy and Lucy coming home?"

We are so blessed to have so many people in our life who reach out and want to help our family, like I've mentioned it takes a village!  My mom has been with us for the past two weeks,  the week prior to being admitted she came out to help us with the kids while Drew, Lucy and I spent several longs days at clinic appointments.  She was on a flight home last Saturday when Lucy and I were in the ER,  two days latter she was on a flight back to help us yet again.  As difficult as it can be, Drew and I do our best to keep the older kids activities going especially at times like these.

Divide and conquer, that's how we manage. I am forever torn between being here with Lucy and being at home with Jack, Megan and Sophie.  It is the most difficult part of living our life!  I have yet to figure out a way to be in two places at once.  I was able on a few occasions during this admission to leave Lucy for a few hours so that I could spend some time with my other kids, thanks entirely our wonderful nurse Helen and our friend Andy who just so happens to be a doc here at DuPont, but not one of Lucy's docs.  Drew does a lot of driving back and froth during times like these, driving back and forth from work, our home and the hospital, each one being a good thirty to forty five minute drive from one another, never complaining.  We both rely on caffeine to survive these days, his in the form of diet Coke, mine in the form of green tea.  He sleeps at home so that he can be with the kids in morning and get ready for work, and Lucy and I take care of things here at the hospital.  He brings me things from home after giving him a detailed description of what I need and where he can find it, and sometimes he just brings me things that he thinks I need just because.  We fall into each others arms when we are together mostly because we're just so tired.

It's Saturday, my mom is flying home this morning as she has things to do, and Drew is home with the kids today.  They have plans to have a picnic up in the finally finished tree house...not sure I mentioned it here, but the kids and Drew have been building a tree house all summer in "Their Tree".  After a total melt down by everyone last night, a picnic in the tree house sounded like the best idea ever.   Lucy is severely off her schedule and is need of a down day, it appears as if she is getting just what she needs, weekends at the hospital are eerily quiet.  We are planning a pizza party and movie night in Lucy's room tonight, and tomorrow I think the kids will go swimming at our friends house.

We have an OR time slot for 9:00AM Monday morning, and if all goes well we hope to all be sleeping under the same roof Monday night. 

Thanks as always for your thoughts and prayers, love and support!