Orientation

We had orientation for the home vent program today. We got a layout of classes, what to expect and an overview of the program. We met with the vent program nurse, social worker and doctor (who is already one of Tater's docs from sleep clinic). Everyone is super nice and knowledgeable. We'll be doing 3 classes/week and should be done in about 4 weeks. We'll have to prove we can go home and deal with all kinds of emergency situations and do all the care, etc. We're pretty confident we'll pass all the tests because we've been so involved with Tater's care from day one.

It's sad they expect parents to not know much about their child's care. The reality is, we're in the minority in staying with Tater 24/7 and being so involved. The nurses here (and at the PICU at home) have said it's not unusual for parents to just "visit" and not know much about how to take care of their "technology dependent" child. Most of the time parents can't be here because of financial reasons and they have to work-a lot of times it's because they don't have transportation or because they have other kids at home and no one to care for them.

No matter the reason, knowing there are kids here without their parents makes me realize how good we have it. Of course Mr. Awesome can't work that much being in Bham but he will have a job when this is all over and many people wouldn't be able to say that. Mr. Awesome's employers are the most caring people in the world and everyone there is like family to us. We hate being away from Toser but we know he's having fun and is getting an opportunity he wouldn't otherwise have to be with his extended family. He's having a ball and although he misses us and we miss him like crazy, he's smart enough to know life is pretty good with the spoilage right now.

This whole thing sucks hairy donkey balls but it has made us closer and stronger and have a sense of appreciation that we probably wouldn't have if things were different. And Tater is the most amazing kid. I'm honored to be able to take care of him. Not that I'm a martyr and asked for any of this-it's really hard and discouraging sometimes and most of the time I'm exhausted-but having Tater in my life makes me look at things in a clearer light and understand things that I wouldn't be able to fathom in my "old" life.

You guys have gone too long without some of my sap-so there's your sap for today. One really cool thing about all this is that we'll get put on a priority list for power and utility outages. Y'all totally want to live on our street so you'll get your power back before anyone else does. Of course, living where we do kind of makes such outages a bit more common than the average place but still. We're still excited about the "priority list." And yes, Mountain Mamas, we're having a playdate at my house if the power goes out. :)