A Photo Journal

Pre-op day #2 (Monday before surgery)...hugging the bunny his friend Natalie from school gave him

Super Jake! Our friend Becky gave Jake this awesome cape...Here he is on the way to hospital on Wednesday morning (4:45 a.m.)

In the holding area before surgery (please ignore my bad hair day)...Jake had already been given his "baby cocktail" at this point and it was starting to take effect. My iPhone was absolutely priceless during surgery...it kept Jake occupied for literally hours. He's watching Mickey Mouse here. He had the world's best anesthesiologist who also let him play with her phone. She carried him back to surgery with him playing the Talking Tom app as they walked.

The day after surgery with our favorite person at TCH, Mary. She is Dr. Heinle's P.A. and is awesome! She's taken care of him since he was a baby. Before surgery he was pretty cranky so she promised him 5 Thomas stickers after he woke up. She appeared in ICU right after he was brought in with exactly 5 Thomas stickers for him.

Pops and Nonnie with Jake in ICU

Our friend Misty with Jake

Being transported from the CVICU to his step-down room on the 15th floor. Wearing his cape and still playing my phone :)

His friends Jackson and Lillie Beth came to visit on about day 4. This definitely cheered him up...they wore their shirts from the heart walk for him.

Jake and his cousin Nash who was great to play with Gracie all weekend!

Gracie finally gets to see her "Jakey"...I love this picture because he kept saying he didn't want to see her, but look at the smile on his face. Grace was well taken care of all week, although I still missed her terribly. My friends Claudia, Misty, Becky, and Daphne all took turns and then our family was great. Pops, Nonnie, Gigi, and Poppy took her to the zoo one day and then Aunt Destin and Jo Jo took she and Nash to the Children's Museum one day. Both times she got to ride the light rail and loved that! Uncle Mark helped so much, too, and took care of Grace and Nash quite a bit, too. We are thankful for everyone that loved on our Gracie girl for us!

My favorite picture of the week

Standing up and getting stronger (getting lots of encouragement from his "groupies")

Going for a wagon ride with Bryce and Jade

Saying goodbye to Gigi and Poppy

With JoJo and Papa

Jake and his sweet Aunt Destin. Jake is just a little fond of her :)

After he felt better, he liked to perch himself on the window sill and look for airplanes and watch youtube videos of his favorite group "Go Fish."

The last two days we were there, Jake had the strength to walk the halls and even play in the playroom. They have wonderful child life specialists at TCH who are great to take care of the kid's emotional/social needs and run the playroom. They gave Jake the monkey backpack you can see in the picture to hold his Holter monitor so he didn't have to carry it by hand. Even though they've taken his Holter off, he insists on wearing the monkey at home, too. I think it's bringing him comfort and security.

We're now home and readjusting and taking care of Jake. He's still in some pain and has been taking Tylenol. We're so glad to be home and sleep in our own beds! The irony was we wanted so badly to be admitted and to have the surgery and then we wanted so badly to be discharged and sent home! We continue to be so thankful for the love and support of so many. I'm going to post specifically about that in the next few days.

We go back Monday to get stitches out and for a check-up. Praying that Jake starts feeling more like himself and that we get a good report on Monday.