We're home!!!!!!!!!!

Yes we made it home last night about 7:00pm and found balloons, streamers and a big "Welcome Home" sign from Khloe's friends! The last couple of miles before our house Khloe had such a big grin on her face all I could think of was the saying "smiling from ear to ear"! It is SO good to be home!

Where things are: Khloe's physical ability is very curtailed for now...bed rest, wheelchair use, sitting on the couch only walking a few steps to the bathroom and she must have someone supporting her during those times; she also needs to have supervised care 24 hours a day. She is on oxygen at night and any time she transfers (bed to wheelchair, wheelchair to couch, trips to the bathroom, etc) for recovery assistance. She has one double PIC line still in her left arm so that labs/bloodwork can be drawn at home to monitor her heart; we are not sure how long that will remain. She has her bed downstairs and for now she will be limited to staying on the main floor. She tires very easily and today has slept alot but looks forward to visiting with friends whenever possible. Her echo from yesterday showed the medicines assisting her heart very well..not as much as originally hoped, but still very good... and we are hopeful this may give her heart more time than first predicted. The doctors had considered implanting a personal defibrillator/pacemaker but told us yesterday that it would not help enough to justify the trauma and possibilities of infection to her heart, so we will just be dealing with "funky" rhythms and of course, the doctors will be closely following her progress. And we say progress because over the next month we want to see Khloe handling her physical movement better with less distress and hope to work up to fewer limitations.

Khloe's spirit and attitude is great, but she is also frustrated with those physical limitations; it is hard to hold herself back when mentally she feels so alert but she has had a couple breathless moments caused by too much or too sudden activity so I am hoping she will start moderating herself rather than me having to be the "Mean Mommy". No one wants to constantly be reminded of the need to stop doing something and no one else wants to be the one always doing the reminding (insert the names "Khloe" and "Kathi" in the appropriate places :-) ). But, once again, being home is WONDERFUL!!!!!

I plan on continuing the blog with updates on Khloe and more about the rest of the Lewis family and look forward to continuing to hear from all of you.