On Monday June 20th Joshua had yet another ambulance ride: he went to Atlanta. Michelle and I decided to drive straight to Atlanta on our own. We went to the admissions desk to fill out some paperwork and find out what room Joshua was in. We then went up to the Cardiac ICU (CICU) and got to see him.
We met some of his doctors and nurses (all very wonderful people) and were expecting to talk about surgical details to repair Joshua's heart. Back at the hospital 30 mins. from our house, the Dr had said that they might do surgery in Atlanta on the 20th or 21st, so we were hopeful to get it fixed and have him start healing up.
We had been pretty overwhelmed with everything: Saturday we have a new baby, find out that he may have Down syndrome, find out that he has a heart defect, have him carted away by ambulance twice. Just when we start getting used to all that, the doctor in Atlanta told us that he had an infection in his bloodstream (Group B Strep)! Surgery would have to wait until they got that cleared up. Talk about a rough day.
We met with a social worker who gave us all kinds of useful information. Also talked with the doctor again and he said that we should head home and try to maintain a balance with our other 5 kids. He said that before surgery and after surgery would be the best time to stay, especially when Joshua would finally head to the step down unit. We took the doctor's advice and headed home; we planned to return Thursday 23 June and hoped for surgery early the next week.
The trip home was uneventful; we were exhausted. 200 miles round trip might not be much, but all the ups and downs of the past few days had left us drained. When we got home, we were thankful to see my step-mother Diane; she had come out to help with the kids while we were going through all these things.
(Note: the pictures from my first post were taken on our first day in Atlanta; see below)
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