It ain't over 'til it's over

When James was a brand new baby, he was medi-vacced from our community hospital in rural northern Minnesota, where he was born, to Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. He was sent there because he had some sort of intestinal blockage and his pediatrician, Dr. Shannon Harker, said that it was really important for him to have a pediatric surgeon for the best possible outcome. We had our first of three excellent experiences at that hospital and continue to be grateful to Dr. Harker and to the folks at Children's Minneapolis.

James was just short of three weeks old when we finally brought him home that first visit and I will always remember the wise words of his nurse, Patricia. "Just remember, you aren't out of here until you see the hospital in your rear view mirror."

She worked in the nursery that is a level stepped down from the NICU and most of their patients are preemies. She used to tell people that 'you aren't out of here til the baby is in it's car seat.' Then she had one baby have a seizure or some thing in the car seat and now she's switched to the rear view mirror quote.

It remains my current standard for hospital discharges to this day!

That said, we have been waiting for James' blood methotrexate level to come back. It needs to be less than 0.20 for James to be discharged. Erin, his nurse, came in a little past noon to tell me, disappointedly, that his level was "Point zero three." I shared her disappointment, but said I had kind of expected this, since his 24-hour levels were a little higher than the past two times. Then she left to find out what we needed to do.

After she left I thought,"Did she say, 'Point zero three.' or 'Zero point three.'? I think I'll wait til she comes back with an answer before calling Vern."

A little while later, she popped her head back in and said that once she said it out loud on the phone, she realized that his levels were good! It was 'zero point three'. If nothing else happens between now and then, we hope to be seeing the hospital in our rear view mirror at around four o'clock this afternoon.

We hope to miss the worst of the traffic and make it home for Friday supper, Lord willing.

Love, Stephanie