Final Countdown

We are within single digits of leaving for Minnesota. We had all these events that were happening before we went to Minnesota: end of lacrosse season, his birthday, camping trip, Mariner's game, Seth and I climbing Mt Adams...like they were helping keep the inevitable from arriving. Alistair is at Camp Colman this week, the final event that was providing that buffer. His last hurrah, if you will, for unadulterated fun without the fear of harming his healing chest. The rest of the summer will be spent building up strength and stamina while protecting his vulnerable chest. Slow and steady will be the theme...which isn't always a bad thing in the summer!

Lots of people have been asking about addresses to send stuff to Alistair. We have 2 separate addresses you can use. One is the hospital, which he gets mail delivered daily. If it gets delivered after he has been discharged, they will forward all mail to our house. He will be admitted on July 10th and will be there most likely though July 17th, but you can check his progress and know through the blog! The other option is to send it to Seth's Aunt and Uncle (you can send anytime, even before he is in the hospital!) who will either bring it down to us while we are in the hospital or will save it for Alistair to open when we arrive back at their house to stay after we are discharged until we leave on the 21st of July.

Mayo Clinic, St. Marys Campus

For Patient Alistair Hennessey

1216 Second Street SW

Rochester, Minnesota 55902

or

Alistair Hennessey

c/o The Dvoraks

9090 Parkside Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

Seth and I will also be available by emails and texts, if you wanted to send wishes to him via us! We would also love to hear from people, whether it is checking in on us or telling us about your lame day at work! Help us stay connected with the rest of the world while we are so focused on our tiny little one! Or you know, just provide some comic relief or the ability to talk about something other than medical stuff! Seriously! :) 

5 more days until we head to Minnesota...breathe, breathe...

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

We finally bit the bullet and bought our plane tickets. Ouch! Well, it would have been more of an ouch if someone hadn't given us their Companion Fare for Alaska (Thank you Shelli!!). We used their coupon for 2 of us and ours for 2 of us and it saved us about $800! So now we have a place to stay, a way to get there and now we wait. 

I find myself wishing it was still the end of May. June crept up and now it is racing by! Next week is the last week of school. Wait, what!? No, that can't be! I feel ready for July but I don't want it to come. I feel like it is going to be that one part of the ride that you really don't like but all you can do is close your eyes tight, hold on to the railing as hard as possible, hold your breath and wait for the moment to pass where you can once again open your eyes, relax and enjoy the ride. I might feel that way by Monday, July 13th...or once he is moved out of the ICU and is doing and feeling better. 

We watched a movie this weekend that the Mayo Clinic sent about your child's experience and what to expect. The day of surgery, when it is time to go back, only one parent is allowed to go into the OR with your child and stay with them until they are asleep. Ugh, I just keep imagining that moment when he is wheeled away from us..THAT is the part of the ride that will be the worst! Even writing about it now is making my heart race and I feel a little panicky. 

We just need to get through and enjoy the next few weeks. We have the end of school, a camping trip, a Mariner's game and Alistair & his buddy Levi are going to overnight camp for a week! Then we gear up and head to the Midwest! 

The Package Was in the Mail

When I last spoke to our contact at the Mayo Clinic, she mentioned she would be sending us a packet of information. Well, it finally arrived on Saturday. It was in the parcel box in our mail box center because it was probably about 2" thick! SO much information!!! After the letter explaining what was enclosed, there were 7 pages of appointment times and explanations of the appointments with the last being his surgery on July 10th (top right). I have to admit, I felt a little sick after reading all of that. This just got real! They also enclosed many pamphlets and booklets on pediatric care and surgery preparedness, guides on helping your child understand what is going on and a video about being in the hospital and what to expect. There were also 6 medical studies with our surgeon being one of the primary publishers (bottom right) on each of them. I am fairly confident we will be in good hands!

I did get a chuckle out of this particular page:

He doesn't work for anyone, but his job is being a child! :)

We are starting to make plans for heading to the Midwest. We have found a house to rent that is 2 blocks from the hospital. It will make shift changes and visiting easy and will also give us a way to stretch our legs. I am keeping an eye on airfare. I really resent the prices we are looking to pay for flying ONLY halfway across the country. I am being a hopeful optimist that I will catch a fire sale on airfare. If anyone has Alaska miles they aren't going to use and want to donate them...we would humbly use them! 

So far Alistair is taking this all in stride and keeping an optimistic attitude. He has a drop in positivity once in a while where his fears and nerves get the best of him. But he pops back up fairly quick and we are back to focusing on the afterward. Last weekend Alistair told Grandma that he wanted to write a letter to the Mayo Clinic to tell them they were stupid and it was his heart and he can do what he wants with it! Then Saturday he was chatting with his teammates between games and one of them told him he needed to work on his speed during the off season and Alistair said, "You know why I am so slow? I have a heart condition. But I am having surgery this summer and then it will be fixed and I will be all good!" 

He is also good at regulating how much information he wants to get. Much like when we were doing intake for his catheterization procedure and he slipped on his earphones and played Minecraft on and off as he felt he needed to tune out, he also lets us know when we need to stop talking about it at home. He is certainly eating the proverbial elephant one bite at a time!