Going home today!

Teddy, clearly done with this nonsense

 Yesterday afternoon, Teddy's nurse came in and let us know that the team had all talked it over (surgical, medical, etc.) and had decided that Teddy gets to go home today (Friday). He just got an echocardiogram, and then we're going to get discharged and be on our way. He's been doing great overall. There's obviously still some pain when he moves in certain ways, but he's been on just Tylenol and Motrin now for 3 days. He's more comfortable sitting, generally, than laying. All in all, he's ready to go, and they're ready to let him.

Going forward, he will be on warfarin to keep his blood from clotting around the valve. The nice thing is that this shouldn't be too onerous. The way they handle it now is rather than giving you a specific diet, they give you some medicine, and then check your levels to see how your diet is affecting vitamin K production. Warfarin blocks vitamin K from forming clots as well. They're aiming for levels that mean that it takes roughly twice as long for Teddy's blood to clot. That would be sufficient to keep his valve from making clots which would be not good, but not so strong that we need to worry about him gushing blood from a paper cut.

The big downside here is that we're going to need to go to regular check-ups at a clinic to check to see how his INR levels are. That's basically a measure of how well his blood clots. For a bit, it's going to be weekly until we get stable. Then it'll be monthly. After 90 days on the drug, we can get a home testing kit, which means we won't have to go to a clinic any more to do this, but we will have to get occasional finger sticks at home. It sucks a little, and it's not fair, but that's kind of the whole theme of this heart thing anyway, and this is manageable. 

More importantly, it means that he's going to be fine for a long time to come. This might be the last time we go in for a week long heart surgery with him. It's certainly the last time for a long while. It also means that we might be in for a lot fewer echocardiograms. A mechanical valve is going to change a lot less than one made of CorMatrix or an animal valve would. So finally, we're going home. Thanks to everyone for their support, prayers, and concern!