Thanksgiving day.

Well here we are. Gage has been moved to 3 West and enjoying the freedom.  He was welcomed by 3 of this favorite nurses, Denise, Nicole, and Suzanne, all nurses from the good ole' Lindsey days.
Once he has his pain meds on board, he feels good and interacts well, laughing, joking and eating. But if his pain is not under control, it gets really sad and miserable around here.

He was transferred up here a little after 1:00. After 13 days in the CVICU, we were all happy to see him good enough to be moved up.  About an hour later, Stacy and the kids went to some friends here in Palo Alto for Thanksgiving dinner.  They had a great meal and enjoyed the activities.  Gage and I stayed here, played a game, went for a walk around the 3rd floor, and I took a nice nap while he played pacman with Denise at the nurses desk. Very nice of them to let me sleep.

This evening was a bit rough.  He gagged on his meds and eventually threw up his feeding tube. This was traumatic on him knowing it had to go back in.  After another walk, pain meds, a patient mother calming him down, and a stiff drink of water, two good nurses (one of which was Riza from the Lindsey days) were able to replace the feeding tube.  Now we have all 5 kids here and enjoying time together. Sierra being the big sister, Megan doing her thing, Hunter and Lindsey's abiding love for each other, and Gage loving the attention.

When we left Oregon Wednesday morning there were a few tears shed in the big red suburban.  The kids wanted to see their mom and little brother, but it was Thanksgiving! ALL there cousins were going to be here, with plenty of food, games, and fun to go around.  But there is a little boy here on 3 West who needs his big sisters and brother. I told them as we made a right hand turn from Talley Dobbins onto the Anthony Lakes Highway, 'when we do things we need to do rather than what we want to do, and do it with a good attitude, we will be a better people, and able to deal with life's challenges'.  Not that they didn't want to see their mom and brother, it just would have been really fun to see and play with all the cousins.

That's it for now. Lindsey and Hunter both LOVE playing YMCA volleyball. Megan is really into basketball, and Sierra is dancing away on the dance team. Kids will be heading home Sunday.  Right now they think Sierra is driving Big Red alone while Stacy and I stay here with Gage.  Cruel but fun to watch them worry about Sierra driving that far, 780 miles, on 8 different freeways/highways, and over 2 mountain passes. We have a few days to tell them the truth, but for now we can have fun with it.

Last night I stayed here with Gage. He slept good, I think. I had ear plugs in. I learned my lesson from the Berlin days.  He was up 3 times to go potty but that was it.  Today we are looking at a fun filled day of walks, board games, reading books, watching cartoons, and fixing a flat tire on big red, and keeping Lindsey and Hunter at bay.

It has been a one of a kind Thanksgiving. Grateful that Gage is in such good hands, is doing well and that we are all together. Grateful for the love and support from so many at home in Oregon, and family and friends in Idaho, Utah, California and beyond.