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!