Father's Day

First of all, we just want to say "Happy Father's Day"!

I'm sure that being at the hospital did not make for the most exciting Father's Day that Chris has ever had. However, we did take him out for a special lunch in the cafeteria. To show him how much we love him, we went to the big cafeteria in the main hospital. What a lucky guy!

Really, we did have a great day, though. Kai's pain was well managed and he has been out and about today. He got to play in the playroom (I think he could play with the rice table for hours!), "walk" in the hallway, look out the telescope, and even head outside for a while. Fortunately, Kai has a patient and loving big brother who accompanied him on all of his adventures today. Sam is becoming very accomplished at maneuvering the IV pole and moving chest tubes! 

The only thing that we weren't planning on today was the removal of Kai's internal jugular line/central line. This, of course, is the IV line that was placed in the jugular vein in his neck. It needed to come out because of infection concerns. It was not a pretty process getting this out! He cried so hard that he eventually fell asleep...in the stroller, of course, since he refuses to sit in the hospital bed. 

I really think that he'll feel so much better not having these lines in his neck, but it does mean that he'll need to have meds given and blood taken differently from now on. As you can imagine, he's not really a fan of pokes, so this could get interesting!

On a totally different note...it's amazing how close to the doctors and nurses and child life specialists we've become through this journey. We're not necessarily surprised by this, since we are surrounded by incredibly knowledgeable, talented, and loving people. But, we have also become close to other kiddos here. We have two of the sweetest, cutest babies on either side of Kai's room! Sam and Kai have grown to love them so much...I think especially so because, unfortunately, neither one has family or support systems here to be with them at the hospital. To show the babes how much they are loved, Sam asked if he could be brought to the store to purchase toys for them...with his own money! How could we say no to that?!?

Here is what he came up with:

We are so proud of his big heart for these kiddos here! 

Shortly after we received Kai's referral and were starting to research, learn about, and plan for his health needs, we had someone ask us if we felt it was selfish to adopt a child with such significant health concerns; that it was not fair to Sam to put him through all of this. Yes, it is certainly hard to be a six years old and be at the hospital watching a sibling go through surgeries and treatments. But, it also teaches important life lessons. Sam has certainly shown that he is learning empathy and compassion and patience. We are so proud of how he is working on caring for others!