Home Sweet Sweet Home

Man, have we been busy.  One week ago I unpacked my and Ry's suitcase.  Many folks don't realize just how exciting this really was.  I packed a bag on July 18th and headed to Dallas and we have lived out of a suitcase ever since!  I was able to put my shoes in my closet and hang my clothes on hangers!!  It really is the little things that get me so excited :)  Gilly was just as thrilled.  He's been between the ranch, our Hewitt duplex, the hospital and our hotel since December of last year.  Whew! 
So all I can say is that we are are beside ourselves here at home.  It's been a lot of work, but our house now feels like home again.  Yesterday Gilly and I finished hanging our pictures and everything feels good again.  We've been working as hard as we can to get things in place before I get back to work which will be just around the corner! 
Ry's been doing great!  She is right at home and has been sleeping great in her big girl bed.  She loves it!!

This isn't the best pic, but you can tell how excited she is about her pink big girl bed!

She is also happy to picnic with her buddy Dora.  The weather has been great so we've been having our snacks and tea parties on the back porch.

Dora and Ry :)

Mmmm... Pink cupcakes.  Ry put the sprinkles on herself.

This past week, Ry and I also took a special trip.  It's been since Thanksgiving of 2010 since Ry has been able to go to my mom and dad's house.  We used to take trips for weekend fun or even a weekday dinner when Ry was feeling good, but ever since she was listed for her transplant, their house has been out of our travel circle.  As we pulled down the drive Ry kept saying "I remember this place!" although I really doubt she did.  She was completely comfortable as we walked in the house and found her way straight to the toys!  We enjoyed some lunch, seeing the horses, throwing rocks in the creek, playing with water guns poolside and playing with the puppies.  She was so exhausted as we pulled out that she didn't even make it half way down the drive before she was sleeping!
We hope that soon enough we'll get to head to Austin to see Mimi and Papi's house.  It's been a long time since she's been there either, but for now she enjoys her time with them out here at the ranch and just thinks that is their house.
Here is a little video clip of her being silly and Gigi and Papa's.

Tomorrow Ry will have a long day at the hospital.  We will arrive at Children's at 7:15 and then begin with an echo, EKG, chest Xray and lab work.  Then we'll head to pre-op so that she can be worked up for her biopsy and heart cath.  In addition to the usual she will also be met by general surgery in order to have her central line removed.  Ry has had a central Broviac line since June when she was still on Milrinone prior to her hospital stay.  The line has been wonderful because it has saved her from hundreds of pokes.  We have been able to draw labs and administer various meds and infusions over the past 7 months.  However, the direct line is also an infection risk and with her suppressed immune state it is best that we remove it.  (It has also prevented her from being able to take a fun bath for 7 months.)  She will soon go from weekly blood draws (we started with twice a week draws) to once every two weeks so this is the optimal time for removal.  We are hoping she makes the transition to having to be poked with her office visits ok.  Currently she has no hesitations about our trips to the hospital... I hope this doesn't change. 
Back to our Thursday hospital visit...   Once Ry gets out of the Cath Lab, she'll head to the PACU for recovery.  Tomorrow will also be our last cytogam infusion (happy dance).  This will take 4 hours.  Blah.
So it will be sometime early in the evening before we get out of there.  Ry always does great on these long days.  Hope tomorrow will be as good as usual.  Wish us luck :)