Colby's moved to CCMC

Well, today was a rather busy day. We got a call from the UCONN NICU saying that Colby was going to be transported today from UCONN to Connecticut Children's Medical Center (CCMC) around noon. I guess UCONN doesn't have the specialty of pediatric neurosurgeons that CCMC does. The neurosurgeon comes from CCMC to UCONN to review cases and then if they need further treatment, the babies get transported to CCMC. They said that we should meet Colby there and that he would be on the pediatric floor, not a NICU unit. For anyone who's been in a hospital, you know how "normal" rooms are. There's a bed, TV, visitor's chairs and a little bathroom. This is exactly what Colby's room is like except he's in a big crib, not a bed. The good new of all of this is that he's stable enough to be out of the NICU. However, the poor little guy would be laying there alone in a room except when the nurses would come in to check on him. So Tracey and I are going to take shifts to stay with him day and night to keep him company and take care of him until he finally comes home. And at this point, we're not certain when this may be now.

When Tracey last spoke to the neurosurgeon it sounded like it was almost definite that Colby would get a shunt and it was our understanding that we were being transferred to CCMC specifically for this purpose. The nurses at the UCONN NICU also said that the surgeon was standing in front of them and said the same. However upon our arrival at CCMC today, the doctors who oversee the whole floor seemed to think that it was more for monitoring and that they were going to do a spinal tap first, watch him for a couple days and then see about a shunt. It's evident to us that the surgeon and the general staff at CCMC haven't talked much about Colby's case yet.

So...we're in limbo again, not exactly sure what the next steps will be. We're going to wait until the morning and get the story from the surgeon when he comes in. He has placed an order for Colby not to eat or drink anything after 4am. So he must be planning some kind of surgery tomorrow. We obviously won't let them take Colby until we know what's going on.

I did end up going out last night and had a blast. But....I got home a little later than I anticipated. Tracey and I laughed today because this morning we were lying in bed and we were talking about how we were looking forward to tonight. Our plans were to get Colby settled into CCMC, then come home, hang low and get to bed early. Well, scratch that idea! She'll stay with him tonight. I'm home and plan on going to bed early and getting a good night's rest. Tomorrow night, maybe both she and I will stay there or maybe she'll come home and get some rest. Christmas day, Evan will come to our house so she'll stay at home and I'll sleep in the hospital with Colby.

Colby is having a couple of his "firsts" today. The biggest...it's his first time out of the hospital! His first car ride....well, maybe a special transport ride but it's a ride none the less. His first time seeing the outdoors. And tonight will be his first night with one of his parents. That's all very cool stuff!

I have to say that we so enjoyed the staff at UCONN. Tracey and I were talking about that tonight as we were getting settled into Colby's new surroundings. I know some of you read the blog so should you read this, please pass the word that Tracey, Colby and I already miss you guys!

We've pretty much scrapped any holiday plans. We are going to have a little Christmas when Evan comes home from his dad's and we'll both come home from the hospital to give Evan some normalcy there. Then he and Tracey will go over my sister in laws for some family time.

So that's the scoop. Lot's going on yet again and a definite change in plans. Tracey and I have become very flexible when it comes to things changing. You just have to be in situations like this.