I woke in my own bed which was a wonderful thing, but I was in a lot of pain and needed help getting up. It would just take practice to learn how to get in and out of my bed on my own without hurting my chest. Dad had to leave early to get back to work. He had used all his vacation days and didn't have any more time to spare. It still makes me sick to think that I caused him to use all his days for the year in May. He never thought twice about it though. Mom had already sacrificed so much too and needed to get back home. She was also out of her medicine. They decided that I wasn't strong enough to make another trip so soon after the flight though. A plan was put into place. Mom stayed through the week and went home that weekend to take care of things. Debbie, Melodie, and Stacey took turns staying with me until she returned on Monday. We would stop by the school Tuesday to say bye to my class, go to my appointment with the congenital heart doctor, then head back to Mom & Dad's house for a few weeks of recovery.
Cathy Christopher was right. It was hard. I couldn't do anything on my own but I was already exhausted from feeling like a burden. I wanted to be in my own home but I wanted to be with my family. I wanted to be with my friends who I missed dearly. I was sick of people griping at me and telling me that I couldn't do things. It was wonderful to see people those first few days after getting back and it was also hard. EVERY person that saw me exclaimed about how good I looked. I know that's wonderful but it's also very hard to handle too. After the surgery, since my body was actually getting oxygenated blood, my coloring truly went from a grayish tint to a healthy pinky-peach~~almost overnight! Each visitor meant so much to me because they took the time out of their lives to come and see me! That's huge to me especially since I couldn't really go anywhere and had been missing them all so much! Anyhow, as I said, Cathy was right, it was hard, but it was worth it! I'm so glad I had that week at my home sweet home before we headed west for recovery.
