I Scream, You Scream

Tyler flew out to Cincy and back all on Monday. Today he, Jess, and Curt went to the Shriner's annual Ice Cream Social. The Shriners have this fundraiser every year and provide ice cream and barbecued goods. (Me being a vegetarian, I skipped the barbecue.)

Tyler's progress is nothing short of amazing. Last week he couldn't walk at a normal pace and had some difficulty standing straight. Now he's walking normally, standing straight, and running a bit. He still needs to change his dressings twice daily to apply bacitracin to the open wounds he still has. They're healing nicely and aren't as large as they were before.

Next week Tyler and I are hitting up the Irish Fair in St. Paul. He became a Dropkick Murphys fan last month and wouldn't mind seeing them again.

Shannon

Post-Op Check-up and Meet-n-Greet

Tyler and Curt flew out to Ohio today for his first exam since he was discharged and came home. He's been recovering quite nicely so far. What's even better is that their experience at the Cincy airport wasn't as nightmarish as it was lsat time! Whew!

If you're in the Minneapolis area Tyler, Curt, Jess, and Katie (Curt's GF) will be at the Shriner's ice-cream social/blood drive on July 29. I will most likely be there for a bit and we look forward to meeting any of you who stop by. It will be at the Harrington Mansion in south Minneapolis.

Shannon

Happy Birthday!

13 years ago today, Tyler made his debut. It's hard for me to believe he's officially a teenager now! His birthday has been rather quiet. He's walking around but is having difficulty standing up straight. It'll be a while before he regains his posture and can run around like a maniac. But in the meantime he's enjoying the day and has been very, very upbeat. Sometimes it's hard to keep his little brothers and sister away from him as he's still in some pain.

He's been through a lot in these 13 years. More than anyone else I know. But he remains strong. And I know that his experiences will only make him stronger as he begins this next chapter of his life.

Shannon

Airport Hell

Well, Tyler had quite an adventure getting home from Ohio:

There were no electric carts available at the Cincinnati airport so he had to use a wheelchair instead to navigate throughout the entire airport. (If you think airports are hellish enough walking through them, consider yourself lucky!) To make matters worse, he was nauseous and vomiting the whole time he was at that airport.

Thankfully things are different when he finally got to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. He was able to get a wheelchair to get him off the plane and was able to use a motorized cart to get through the terminal over to an elevator where he transferred to a wheelchair being pushed by a helpful employee there. Curt's girlfriend picked them up and drove them back home to the northern suburbs.

Here's hoping that nobody has to endure that sort of hell ever again!

Shannon

HOMECOMING!!!

That's right! Tyler returns home tonight to recover and to get started on his physical therapy. Needless to say everyone missed him. He looks forward to seeing his little brothers and sister, family, friends, etc. It's been a crazy 2.5 weeks for him and we're all glad to have him back.

He'll begin his physical therapy in the coming days. First he needs to get settled in back home.

Thanks again for all the good karma and kind words sent his way. It really means a lot to him.

Shannon

Home Stretch!

Yesterday the staples where Tyler's "new skin" was attached were removed. Because the pain medication made him feel sick and uncomfortable he opted not to take it for this process. It was painful for him as a result but he does feel better.

Jess came home on Thursday after Curt arrived in Ohio. He'll be there for the rest of Tyler's hospital stay and will be accompanying him home some time next week. It'll be a couple days before Tyler can get to a computer as he's stuck in bed for now. But he enjoys seeing the words of encouragement people are sending his way. The hardest part for him is over for the most part and it will start getting easier once he's back home and can truly begin his recovery.

Shannon

Preparing for departure

Tyler's dressings were changed for the first time since his surgery on Monday. He'll be checked again on Saturday to ensure that there are no infections and he can return home. Meanwhile, Curt is arriving in Ohio today to stay with Tyler for the rest of the week, allowing Jess to return home to prepare for the homecoming.

Tyler turns 13 in less than 2 weeks, and it looks like Jess wants to make his grand entrance into his teen years a special one.

And I would just like to say shit happens. Accidents happen. Yes, they're often preventable but sometimes they're not. You can either run from it and pretend it didn't happen. Or you can learn from it. See where mistakes were made, and see how you can prevent it from happening in the future. It's no use to beat yourself up over it. Nor is it worth anyone's time and energy to transfer the blame.

Shannon