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My wonderful husband stayed with Truitt the last few days of his hospital stay. I was able to come home and care for Beckett and get a good nights sleep in our own bed! Because it is still considered flu season, the hospital allowed no children or visitors (only grandparents) so it made it very hard for Greg and I to both be there at the same time. Beckett was not allowed up on the floor Truitt was on.

Truitt came home on Saturday, March 17th. After almost four full days in the hospital, it was nice to finally all be together again at home. Truitt was so happy the minute he came through the front door.

The tube has been life changing already. We ask ourselves why we waited so long to make this decision. Some days we only use it for his meds, and I love that we don't have to taint his food with bitter medications anymore. Other days, particularly school days, we use  it several times a day for liquid because it's either too early or he is too tired after school for a bottle. We haven't used it yet for a meal replacement, but just as a means of getting meds and plenty of liquid in him each day. It has been wonderful so far.

It seemed to be healing very nicely for the first week, but now looks a little irritated and red. I called the GI doctor and described what I was seeing. She said that because the skin can't heal together due to a plastic tube being in the middle it sometimes gets red, irritated and produces a little puss during the healing process. Well it still hasn't gotten any better and it has been almost two weeks since surgery. We clean it with peroxide three times a day, so I think I'm going to call the GI doctor again this afternoon and follow up. I don't want it to lead into a full blown infection. We left the hospital being told even right after surgery the risk of infection is very slim. And we have kept it so clean.

Truitt has been very happy since surgery. The tube doesn't seem to bother him at all, but he surely knows it is there. Every time we lift up his shirt or use the tube, his hadn is right there feeling it. Pretty good for a boy who hardly uses his hands :)

Beckett had a hard time seeing his brother with a strange thing sticking out of his belly. He whined and pointed to it and said," Off!" I told him it was Truitt's tube and not to ever touch. He then pointed and said," Truitt tube? No touch. Hot!" Ha! We always tell him "hot" with many things he isn't allowed to touch like the oven, stove, space heater, blow dryer anything that produces heat. So it was so funny he made that association with the tube when I said not to touch. Funny boy!

It has grown on him and now when he sees it he just says, "Tube." Occasionally followed by "hot." He is very interested when we use it, but has never even come close to touching it. He is such a good listener. An even better little brother :)

These are a few pictures from last week, one week after sugery.