Monday, Monday

Monday in the hospital starts off as busy as any other. Dr. Murray is in first, same speech. Dr. Hourigan is in a while later, he leaves with a " I will talk to you soon." I am too tired to read between the lines. Same routine with Justin, they bring in a tray for breakfast, we try to be excited but he wants nothing. They make him stand up and walk to the scale to weigh, no weight gain yet. A nurse comes in and asks if I can take a phone call at the desk, I am already confused, now what? Dr. Hourigan is on the line, he is apologizing for doing this over the phone but he has already consulted with Dr. Murray and with a pediatric surgeon in Spokane and wants us to prepare right away....
I am trying to focus on what he is saying but at the same time, I can hear Justin in the room, now he is getting louder, I put down the phone and tell the nurse to explain to Dr. Hourigan....
Back on the phone, he continues, we are not going home, Justin has to go to Sacred Heart Children's Hospital in Spokane, the ambulance is on the way. He asked when Darin will be here, he asks if I am ok, he then promises that this is the best thing for Justin. He will be with doctors and staff that have a lot of experience with this. He will be able to have a pic line put in for medication and nutrition. He has to get stronger, he is slipping by staying here.
I go back to the room and start making the phone calls, I hate to have to tell Darin. The next forty-five minutes are a whirlwind, I was packing, filling out papers for the hospital, answering calls. It seemed like all at the same time, the paramedics, Darin and my mom show up in the room. We are trying to sort things to go back to Royal, things for Darin to bring to Spokane for us and prepare Justin for the ambulance ride. I can't stop flying around the room, my mom gave me a hug, she was crying, I was numb. I couldn't start to cry, I knew it would be a complete melt-down, there wasn't time for that and Justin couldn't see that.
Justin is being strapped on to the gurney, he has blue elephant and my hand. Amazingly the ride went by quickly, not comfortable though. By the way, if you are ever bored, try holding the pee cup for a six year old boy strapped to a gurney in a moving ambulance going seventy + down the interstate.
We arrive in Spokane and try to find our way through the maze of halls and elevators and find Darin. Once in our room, it is another round of new i.v.'s, new bed, new hospital gown, new people. But best of all was our nurse, Tawnee. She made the difference in the chaos for Justin. She was tiny, quiet and spoke to Justin with pure love. He trusted her immediately.
It would be a long day of waiting. We felt like everyone was bustling around with something to do and someone to tend to and we were sitting in the corner watching. The staff was very helpful in talking to us about where we could stay, eating arrangements, parking; all the not-important stuff that makes the whole experience easier. We got to finally meet the doctor; she was very supportive in assuring us that Justin was on the right track, it was just going to be a long road. She stressed that looking at his information he was very lucky to be in the condition he was in now, everything had gone according to plan. Now, he needed a little help in fighting any infection that may be left and getting the criticial nutrition that he needed. Tomorrow would be a big day for Justin, he would get his pic line and another phase of this journey would start.