It's 9 p.m.

This is the first time I've taken the opportunity all day to just sit and play on the computer.

It's been an...interesting day.

I spent the night in the hospital. As you might can imagine (Or maybe you can't? I always envision myself talking to grown up Benjamin when I type here, but maybe I'm talking to 10-year-old Benjamin, who has no idea what being in a hospital is like?), one doesn't get a lot of sleep in a hospital. Every time you nod off someone comes in the room to rudely awaken the patient and poke or prod some part of him. The result is that the next day you find yourself feeling like you haven't slept at all. Which is how I've felt all day.

And then, of course, as soon as my day started I had to scheme and plot to figure out how I would logistically get everything done and be everywhere I needed to be. Lizzie needed to be taken to school by 7:30. And then her awards ceremony began at 8:30. And then Liz needed to go home to feed her cats and take care of things at her house. And I needed to take a shower and change clothes. And I wanted to take you to see your father. And then I needed to go to the grocery store to buy some baby food because you're out of fruit. And the van was out of gas, so I needed to stop and fill it up. And then I had to get back to the hospital. And, oh yeah, I wanted (needed) someone to stay with Donald while I did all that.

It took a LOT of help from everyone, but somehow or another I managed to get all that done!

Yay! for mommy!

And Yay! for everyone who's helped/helping mommy!

As far as events here at the hospital, your father has done well today. He got his catheter out early in the day and then his chest tubes out in the afternoon, so now the only thing he has attached or tethered to him is the external pacemaker. He's walked twice in the hallway (the first time was rough on him, he got very dizzy and nearly fell down, but the second time he didn't have any problems) and is generally doing extremely well still.

He is experiencing one small adverse surgical 'side-effect' and that is some occasional vision loss in his left eye. According to a ophthalmologist who came around to check him out, it's a condition known as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAIOC). Essentially it's where he had, basically, a stroke, or loss of blood flow, in an optic artery. Hopefully it'll remedy itself. But we'll have him thoroughly checked out by his own doctor once he's home.

OK, kid, I'm afraid I'm getting really tired now, so I think I'll go lie down and try to get some sleep before someone comes in to poke and prod your father and wakes me up.

I love you so much sweet baby boy. I'm sorry that I can't be there with you right now. I miss you terribly. But you seem to be weathering all of this extremely well, and hopefully soon it'll all be over and both Mommy and Daddy will be there with you again and you'll never remember anything any differently.

Hugs and kisses, Funny Benjamin Bunny!

Love,

Mommy