10 DAYS AND COUNTING

A year ago today Milo had surgery to receive his tracheotomy, it hardly seems like it was a whole year ago. Today Milo has been home for the hospital a record 10 days in a row. He is doing really well, soaking in his surroundings and exploring more and more each day. Last year I could never have imagined how the year would unfold. My expectation was that he would have surgery and in a week we would be on our way home to Colorado Springs. The doctors thought that just the tracheotomy would be enough to help him breathe easier, they really didn't think he would need to be on a ventilator long term. Fast forward a year and Milo is finally home and is still on the vent. Just goes to show you that medicine is more of an art than a definite science.

MILOSTONE--Milo stood up all by himself in the middle of the room today. He was squatting (which he has been doing for several days now) and just stood himself up. He looked very pleased with himself then fell down. My cousin Curtis and his wife Candace were here for a visit at the time and we all cheered for him. I expect that we will be seeing a lot more of this in the days to come. He has been letting go of things and standing independently for a couple of seconds here and there. He will also walk while holding hands, sometimes with only one had. I am so excited for him to learn this skill like all the kids his age but on the other hand chasing him with the ventilator will be that much more of a challenge!!

Milo has 3 doctor appointments on Tuesday afternoon so we will be spending a bit of time at The Children's Hospital but this time in the outpatient clinic area. Of course we will be stopping by the 8th floor to say hi because we both miss you guys so much. His appointments are Special Care clinic at 1:40, Pulmonology at 3:00 and Allergy at 4:00 and we will be by after that. If his isn't too crabby maybe we will be able to stop by the PICU as well.

Eating has become much more enjoyable for Milo. He is eating like a champ, at least 7 ounces of baby food 3 times a day. In fact he ate so much in addition to all the formula he always gets that he was miserable the other day. I have cut him back a bit with the baby food until we can talk to his doctors about how to balance food and formula so he won't feel like he ate Thanksgiving Dinner every day! It's not a lot of fun to see sweet potatoes squishing back out around a g-tube and it has to feel horrible...

Well I'd better go for now and get some rest before the race begins again in the morning :0)