We're home! A thankfully uneventful and pain-free six hour flight with relatively smooth transitions in the airports - I couldn't have asked for a better trip. We were greeted by bright sun, clear blue skies and early spring blooms...all making me feel like we were gone for two months, not two weeks. We drove directly … Continue reading Back in Berkeley

Oscar is already two weeks post-surgery, and we're heading back to California tomorrow! I'm packing our suitcases and thinking about what we'll need on the airplane and how I will carry it all. Oscar won't be able to lift anything more than five pounds for at least another month, and yes he does want those … Continue reading Heading Home Tomorrow

We feel like Oscar turned a corner in the last 24 hours! He had been experiencing increasing abdominal pain Wednesday afternoon and evening so, at Dr. C's suggestion, we tried a more aggressive intervention to get him some relief. Oscar wasn't happy but he felt much better afterward. And today's X-rays confirmed that he does … Continue reading Getting Back On Track

Why does there always have to be a setback? We were moving along smoothly here -- getting Oscar closer to a normal diet, watching him walk his loops around the house with increasing speed, venturing out of the house for longer walks. Sleeping through the night! And I think that right shoulder was starting to … Continue reading Setback

So much progress in the couple of days since we left the hospital! Rather than lying on the couch or sitting in a chair propped up by pillows, Oscar's moving around a lot more. He walks loops around Grandmary's house before and after each meal, and whenever else we can convince him. Last night he, … Continue reading One Week Post-Op

We're all going a little bit crazy here in room 550 of Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital. The heater is knocking (really, I think there's a little man in there with a hammer banging on the pipes), the alarms are beeping (every time a medication finishes the dang pump beeps till the nurse turns it … Continue reading Going Crazy

Oscar started the day heavy-lidded and drowsy from the medicines. He was slurring his words yet still insisting he wasn't tired by repeating, "I'm awake" anytime we commented on his sleepy state. Around lunchtime they lowered one of his medications to lessen the sedation and the difference was amazing. He opened his eyes, initiated lots … Continue reading A Day of Progress!