Home Sweet Home?

So we are home! We were released from the hospital yesterday at about 1pm, went to the Ronald McDonald house, packed our stuff and hit the road around 3:30 pm. All went well until we got off the turnpike in Maine when Samantha threw up. Although throwing up after brain surgery is fairly common, it is also a sign of swelling in the brain, which can be life threatening. We stopped in to my parents house to change Sammy and to call the neurosurgeons in Boston to get their thoughts. It was strange because as soon as she threw up, she was fine, she was acting normally and was happy. The doctors said to just keep an eye on her and if she threw up again or started acting strange to call back. We stayed at my parents house for a couple of hours to observe her and she was acting fine so we decided to head for home. We were almost home when she threw up again in the car. Again, she was fine after she threw up and the doctors thought that she was probably just getting car sick. Let me tell you, I was stressed out about coming home and being far from her doctors to begin with, but this just made me about lose it! I couldn't eat or sleep last night at all.

Today Sammy was doing really well, she didn't throw up at all and aside from one episode of her head hurting (because she needed some Tylenol) she has been just fine. She is actually walking around much better than she was before her surgery. I am feeling a little better as the day goes on, but I am still pretty tense. I think it is a combination of worrying about Sammy and thinking I might not recognize symptoms of something bad happening and the realization that my life is completely different. I mentioned before that I don't enjoy change, and this change is pretty monumental. I always feel like this for a couple days when major change occurs, so I'm sure I will be feeling better soon, but I have to say that things have been pretty sucky since we returned home. Thankfully, my mother took the day off from work today and spent the entire day with us, which was hugely helpful. There have been so many people that have been helpful to us during this time, but my parents have really been there for us through everything and I feel so fortunate to have them! Thanks Mom and Dad!