Early Mornings, Doctors and Lightning Bugs

Our day started early today. 5am came too quick. Seth and I were up and at em pretty quick as neither of us slept well and were already awake. We had to wake Alistair from a very deep sleep and it still took him a while to really come to. He fell asleep again while driving to Rochester, which was good since he was in for such a long day!

Once we arrived and grabbed some breakfast, we went to find our first appointment - blood draw. I was not looking forward to this because Alistair has notoriously been a hard stick and I used to be one...he takes after me in that department. It took two very long tries before they were able to get what they needed. It was not very fun to watch and having been in his shoes, really not fun for Alistair. Then we went to his Chest X-Ray. That took 2 seconds as he is an expert on assuming that position! After we finished the appointment and were waiting for the next, Alistair told us he couldn't have anymore x-rays because he would have metal in his chest after his surgery. Seth informed him that although cannibals would now have to only slow cook him and not microwave him, he could still have x-rays. We all laughed...phew, humor is still intact!

The next appointment was his Echo. Alistair has come to enjoy these procedures as it means he gets to lie on a bed in the dark and watch a movie. We enjoyed the first half of Despicable Me 2, a movie we have seen multiple times. I am sad we won't get to go see the Minions Movie this weekend as our family loves the minions, as silly as they are! After his echo, we wandered downstairs for his EKG and then he was fitted for a Holter Monitor - not so thrilled about having to wear it for 24 hours as he was hoping to go swimming tonight. We will make sure to get that activity in sometime tomorrow. 

We left the hospital and grabbed some lunch. Then we headed to the house we are renting while we are here and checked in. Seth's parents arrived shortly after us and we all moved our stuff in. Alistair claimed the twin bed room and has made himself quite the little nest...it even has a TV in it as well as a couch (chair and a half). Alistair has been wanting a couch in his room for sometime, so this is a dream come true. Unfortunately it will be short lived as he is only here 2 nights. 

Alistair's afternoon appointment was with Dr. Johnson, a pediatric cardiologist at Mayo. He was very nice and chatty. After a few minutes Alistair interrupted him and asked if we could get on with the appointment! It think he was ready for his day to be over! The appointment was more or less an opportunity to talk in-depth about the procedure as well as the following days in the ICU, Step Down Unit and Floor. Some interesting and potentially scary facts I learned was: Ebstein's is EXTREMELY rare. Seth asked Dr. Johnson how common is Ebstein's and he said not very, most cardiologists only see it 1-2 times during their careers!! He also explained the need for the procedure in a different way than I had heard. Basically if Alistair didn't have this procedure while he was young, his heart would continue to stretch and grow and enlarge as he grew and he would eventually have no choice but to have a transplant. Dr. Johnson was very reassuring that this procedure was very safe and successful and that we are in the best hands we could be in as far as surgeons go. People come from all over the world to see Dr. Dearani, He also made it sound that Alistair, although in some varying degrees of discomfort, should bounce back fairly quick and will be wanting to do stuff way before we want him to! 

Alistair did very well today. He got teary this morning for the blood draw and was fighting back tears this afternoon off and on as we discussed the impending event. But once we were home from everything, he perked right up. He and Grandpa found the Mariners game to watch (they lost) while Seth, Judy and I went grocery shopping. Then after dinner we went to Flapdoodles for ice cream; Alistair had read about it in a Rochester Magazine he found in the waiting room. He thought Grandpa would enjoy it!  

When we got home, Alistair noticed lightning bugs in the next door neighbor's yard! Pretty cool thing to see if you aren't used to them!

Meanwhile our little blondy got to stay behind and hang out with the Sandholms! Gabe, Ranae and Sully are gracious enough to host and entertain her while we are down here. Gillian has made a new friend, Atlas. Gillian LOVES him!

Today's adventures for her included a bike ride to Lake Harriet and watching a friend of Sully's fish. Apparently she likes to handle the minnows! That's our girl!