Hooray! Mason is Back Home!

After 4 days and 3 nights in the hospital Mason and I returned home

last night. Hooray! I honestly don't know how I did it for 7 straight

weeks last spring after his transplant, eating and sleeping at the

hospital without leaving. I guess we all do some pretty crazy things

for those we love :) I will say, most importantly Mason is much

much much happier to be home. (He has major hospital anxiety! )

And the best news of all is..............

his heart function on Sunday morning's echo had returned back

to his normal healthy baseline. His tricuspid valve is still leaking,

but only mild-moderate which is about where it's been at since his

big rejection last April. I'll take that over the severe leak it had

on Thursday, the day of his biopsy. Still a medical mystery as to

what caused his "sick heart" episode, but definitely a miracle

that Mason got better so quickly!!!

(Mason is eating goldfish crackers while sitting in one of hospital's

wagons.) He seems to feel safer sitting in a wagon rather than in the

hospital bed. Once we got out of the ICU on Friday afternoon and moved

up to the 3rd floor he wanted to go on walks all day long. But you can

only circle the hospital so many times without going stir crazy!!!

Poor little guy is on about on 3x the steroids he was on before this

hospital stay. He is not happy about that (nor am I), It makes him

so grumpy and irritable. The steroids are causing high blood pressure and

messing with his Cyclosporine level. We already had to go back in for a blood

draw this morning to check his Cyclo level. We had been going at least

2 weeks in between blood draws, but now we are back to 2x a week again.

Mason is on a steroid taper after receiving the IV steroids (solu-medrol) so

it will take him 2 weeks to get back to his normal dose.

I thought he was restless on his normal dose, but on 3x that he is

much much more than restless!! Here is Mason below asleep on our couch

FINALLY at 6:50 am this morning after being up most of the night.

(And check out those red chubby steroid cheeks!)

Mason and I watch a lot of Disney channel in the middle of the

night because there is never anything else decent on. So if I were to

tell you that my favorite show right now (besides Grey's Anatomy) is

Wizards of Waverly Place then at least you would know why! Mason

likes the TV on because I think he's afraid to fall asleep......but he

eventually does. Shhh don't tell him :)

Thanks again again for all your prayers and sweet positive thoughts

being sent our ways during this most recent speed bump.