Hospital to Home

February marks eight years after taking Sam home from the hospital for the very first time in his life. Sam was over seven months old. Sam had a breathing tube and feeding tube. He was and is what the medical world calls a medically complex child.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I was ecstatic and terrified. Knowing and using all of the equipment in the hospital was one thing, but learning the new equipment at home was another. 

Knowing strangers (nurses) were coming into our home to help keep him alive was reassuring and strange. 

There was no ‘code blue’ at home. A button could not be pushed to have several doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, etc. come running into the room to keep Sam alive.

Our old way of life would never be the same. 

It’s surreal to go back and read the CaringBridge post I wrote so long ago about that day. Click here to read that post. 

To the mama who will take their medically fragile child home from the hospital for the very first time: 

I can’t promise things will get easier, but I can tell you that you’ll settle into your routine and norm. I can tell you that finding gratitude in every day will get you to the next. I can tell you that your gratitude will likely look a lot different than others in your life and that is okay. I can tell you when you find the few people in your life that don’t try to ‘get it’ because they know they can’t, keep them close. I can tell you the less you expect people to understand, the less offended you will be, and in turn, the more peace you will have. 

Most of all, I want you to know you can do hard things. You are strong and you are capable. You’ve got this!