6:30pm: Kristen got the most unexpected news today when she got to the hospital - the doctors are planning for Reid to come home in the next three to four weeks. My reaction: heck yes! My second reaction: oh crap - are we ready?!? Kristen and I have been mentally preparing for him to be home in June and realized that there was quite a bit of changes that we had expected to see in Reid before it would even become close to reality. Namely, the weaning of the hydrocortisone, methadone and most importantly, his oxygen. Today, they weaned his hydrocortisone and Monday they are preparing to wean on his flow. And subsequently, they have been trying to figure out what alternative drug they want to put Reid on instead of the methadone. Knowing that it is a controlled substance/narcotic, they want to find a drug that they can use that will be easier for us to get access to at our local pharmacy. On Monday when they wean the flow, Reid will be put on 100% oxygen and they are hoping to have him down to 1 liter in the next few weeks.

We have a case worker that has been working with our insurance for home health care and medical equipment. We know that at a minimum, we will have oxygen tanks at home, but we aren't sure what sort of medical care we will have. It initially could be 12 to 16 hrs of nursing care at home and dwindled down as Reid progresses. It will be interesting to have someone essentially living in our house for awhile, but we will need the help. I guess over the next few weeks we will find out what our doctors will recommend and what our insurance allows for.

Another big topic of consideration will be determining who Reid's pediatrician will be. There has been talk of us being assigned to the Emory clinic as our primary care physician so that we will have access to very tallented doctors and specialist (namely pulmonologists). It would be a drive for us for his visits - no more than what we are doing daily now - but it would be best for Reid and that is all we care about.

Life is going to take a new turn - probably more challenging than we have ever faced in our lives, but we are willing, able and ready for our little man to be home. From what we have heard, kids like Reid thrive when they get home.

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, but there wasnt much to report. He still faces his daily challenges of sweating, pooping and itritability, but we are hoping that these things will go away when the steroids and methadone are out of his system. Unfortunately, they went back up on his methadone dose yesterday. His ativan was weaned on Tuesday and his feeds were increased today to 105cc every three hours over a 20 to 30 minute duration.

I am sitting at National airport in DC and just learned that my flight is delayed a little over an hour due to bad weather in the Atlanta area. Ugh. I am ready to be home and see Kristen.