Unsung Heroes

Have you ever thought about who your heroes are? Until recently I never really had. When I think about the events of my life recently 4 people really come to my mind. They would be Rob, Meredith, Sean & Eunice C., the cicu nurse that cared for Sean.

The reason I started thinking about it was because we started to get the bills from Columbia for Sean's surgery. I started thinking about what I was actually being charged for. Now... his surgeon is worth his weight in gold as far as I'm concerned. I would've given that man my left leg to ensure Sean's surgery went well & the outcome good. And it went well & the outcome has been nothing short of a miracle. But from a surgeon of Dr. Bacha's caliber, I'd expect that.

One of the bills we received was for the dr that called Sean "a downs". Her exact words, "He should go on cpap because he's a downs". She billed our insurance company $3,800 per day. I almost had a stroke. What the hell did she actually do? I think I saw her maybe 4 times. I mean I saw her on the floor, but I don't think I saw her near Sean, but 4 times. Eunice was with Sean constantly. She was in his room making sure he wasn't bleeding to much. She was there making sure the new resident didn't prescribe the wrong meds at the wrong intervals. She was there telling us that Sean would be ok. She treated Sean as an individual person. Not as a typical kid with down syndrome like so many other people had. She actually listened to us as his parents and understood that I would do whatever I had to do in order to make sure my baby was ok. She made us laugh and never made us feel stupid for crying. She told us everything would be ok. I don't know that she actually believed it would be right after his surgery, but she made us believe it. She made us laugh when I was hooked up to the moo machine and she had us rolling with laughter when Sean cleared the whole room after he pooped. She made us feel at home in the cicu. It takes a very special kind of woman with a very special dedication to her patients to be able to make someone feel at home on the cicu.

Eunice has an amazing quality about her. To us, she was strong & sincere. She didn't take anyone's bullshit and everyone respected her. You know why? Because she knew & knows what she's doing. She's my unsung hero. I have no idea how many lives she has touched in her many years in practice as a nurse. I have no idea how many lives she will touch. But what I do know is that without her my son would never have done as well as he did after his surgery. It wouldn't have mattered what surgeon performed the surgery. Without Eunice Sean, nor his parents, would've fared any better. I hope she knows that we have not forgotten about her Yankees tix.

That's not to say that the drs don't have their merit. They do, but not $3800 per day's worth. Especially when they're not doing much.

Here we are 6 weeks post op and Sean is doing amazingly well. There are some days I wonder just how uncomfy he is in certain positions because of his breastbone, but he's an amazing little boy with a lot of will.

His scar hasn't changed much in the last couple of week, but I don't think I expect it to for quite some time. When he's older maybe I'll use some mederma to lessen it's appearance. But then again.... maybe I'll leave him with his reminder of his journey.
















He's holding his head up again. THANK GOD!!!! He's holding it up the way he should be. And he's sitting so nicely in his bumbo seat. After about 10 minutes he starts to get tired and his head starts to hang. Meredith is always right there to pick it back up for him.



I evicted most of Meredith's toys to her room finally. I put them in the armoire. When I showed it to her, the reaction couldn't have been planned better.



We've made a new friend in the neighborhood. We met on a message board for parents of children with down syndrome. I put the call out for folks in the city, like the bat signal, and she answered. It turns out she lives 10 blocks away.

She & her boyfriend have a 3 year old with down syndrome. Her son was so cute. We went to the playground and apparently leaves are the way to go. Meredith showed Seth how to throw leaves and before we knew it there was a party going on. 2 more kids joined in the fun.

























And here are some pictures of Rob & me taken by Suzanna Finley (www.suzannafinley.com). Throughout our journey so far, we've come out happy. A hell of a lot more tired, but happy. I look at my husband each day and see how hard he tries to make me happy and help me smooth out the wrinkles in my day and I just melt. I fall more in love with my husband everyday. He is my hero, but I sing his praises everyday.
















And some recent pictures of the mini pests. They're my heroes too. They know how to melt my heart in ways I never imagined possible.