The Miracle Worker

WE'RE HOME!!! We got discharged at about noon today, making it our shortest hospital admission yet - and probably one of the shortest most of our nurses had ever seen! As you can see, Bodie was AOK with being discharged...

...in his carseat, ready and raring to head home (yes, that's a Chicken McNugget in his hand - no Mother of the Year award for me this year, but hey, ya do what ya gotta do and there just so happens to be a McDonald's on the way out of the hospital).

This admission was great in a lot of ways - mostly because it was short, but also because it afforded me an opportunity to check out the new hospital. When you have a medically fragile child, it's almost a certainty that your future will hold hospital stays at one point or another, so knowing we'll have a wonderful place to call home when that happens provides more comfort to me than I can express. It also gave me a chance to connect with some nurses that I hadn't seen in quite a while.

One of those nurses was Nickie. Although all of Bodie's doctors and nurses have played a vital role in getting him where he is today, there is a short list at CHLA whom I hold directly responsible for the fact that he is even alive, those who have been direct participants in the miracles that God has sent to kept him here. Let me back up for just a second. Part of the reason it is so heartwarming to come back to CHLA (for clinic visits and short admissions, that is) is to see the jaws drop when Bodie comes walking down the hallway. It's hard to explain, except to say that very few actually expected Bodie to survive what he did, let alone to be doing so incredibly well now. I had more than one nurse tell me they wouldn't have bet on Bodie and yet, look at him now. He is truly a living walking miracle - it's hard to dispute that. When you hear medical personnel who deal with these kind of kids day in and day out use that term to describe your child, it hits home even more.

As I said, there is a short list of individuals who God truly used to get those miracles done. Dr. Starnes, of course, for having the God-given talent that he does, for mending our son's heart in such an astounding way. Dr. Rivera, for having the incredible insight to suggest pacing Bodie when we were thisclose to losing him and everyone in the room knew it. Dr. Bar Cohen, for working tirelessly to figure out the puzzle of Bodie when no one else could, and presenting his solution with such humor and compassion at a time when we REALLY needed that. Dr. Moromisato, for always getting Bodie at his worst and stabilizing him in record time. And Nurse Nickie, who helped me realize my power as a parent, who made sure I knew exactly what an RRT was, so that I would know how to call it when I needed to. Nickie wasn't even our nurse the day I called the RRT for Bodie - and yet, I know I would never have even called it were it not for her. And Bodie didn't have time to spare; had I called that RRT 10 minutes later (perhaps 5 minutes, maybe even less), I don't think Bodie would be here today.

Nicki stopped by our room this morning to see Bodie and I almost started crying. Truly, I can't think of her without getting a lump in my throat (well, if I'm being honest, I can't think of any of the individuals listed above without getting teary-eyed). So, I was beyond thrilled to get a picture of Bodie with Nicki...

and, playing with one of our favorite nurse practitioners, Caroline. (CHLA has to have the best Nurse Practitioners around - I love them all so much!)

I just love how you can see in both of their expressions how much they love Bodie. We are SO lucky to have a second home at CHLA. Makes our inevitable visits more bearable. :-)