Coming Home

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The first time we brought Tristan home from the hospital he was 3-days-old and 19 3/4".

The second time we brought him home from the hospital he was 18 1/2-years-old and 6' 2".

We've been given the gift of bringing him home twice, and both times the feelings have been the same. Complete joy and absolute terror. The joy of having a beautiful child you've created...and the terror of not knowing whether you're qualified to do what's needed to keep him alive and healthy.

Jon and I are fortunate to both work for amazing companies and to have incredible bosses. During COVID both of our employers looked at, and adjusted, their stances on working from home. The fact that Jon and I are both able to work from home is the only reason we were able to bring Tristan home rather than him being moved to a Rehab Facility. He's going to require 24/7 care for quite some time. We have a hospital bed and a recliner for him to try and find comfort in, and he'll be using a walker and crutches until he can tolerate putting his full weight on the repaired leg.

I created a spreadsheet to keep track of all his oral and topical medications, when they are due, and duration for which he'll be taking them. He has a traumatic brain injury (TBI) that the doctors estimate will result in light and noise sensitivity for the next two months. They figure it will take about the same amount of time for his short-term memory to function properly again. He's still in excruciating pain from the TBI, broken ribs, torso incision, liver loss, organ bruising, and femur repair. As you can imagine he's also exhausted from the pain and lack of sleep. We'll be working to manage his pain, increase his mobility, improve his sleep, and help him piece back together his memories. It's going to be a long, painful, and frustrating road for Tristan, but we'll walk every step of it with him.

When can I see him? We realize this is the next question on many of your minds and we completely understand the burning desire to see him. We're going to give Tristan time to settle in and then we'll begin looking at short visits. His pain and exhaustion are going to be the limiting factors in how many people we're able to allow to visit, and for how long, on any given day. We ask that you be patient and understanding with our "rules" as it's also our job to manage the stimulation in his life due to the TBI. If the stars align and the healing is swift, Tristan should be able to enjoy the sunny days of summer with his crew. We'll continue to keep you updated on his progress, but for now, we're going to turn our focus to the amazing human we've now brought home twice.