Iris is 5 months old today, and what better way to celebrate than getting discharged from the hospital! We've had an idea for a couple of days that it would hopefully be today but until this morning didn't know for sure as Iris had to continue doing well enough with feeding, gaining weight, taking her medicines orally and her sats looking good. We didn't tell the kids ahead of time and they were so surprised when we walked in! At first they didn't realize that we were all going home and not just coming for a visit! It had been 31 days since they'd last seen Iris and Jeff and I had only seen them once for a few hours due to us trying to keep Iris away from germs as much as possible. This was so hard to all be apart but they were in very good hands and loved and cared for and Jeff and I felt it was very important for us to be together for Iris.
We'll have a check up next week already and there will already be phone calls coming in for other follow ups with specialists. We are hopeful that Iris won't need to have another surgery until the Fontan, which is the last one of the 3 for kids with her condition and hopefully isn't until she's around 3 years old. We'll continue to watch her diaphragm but it doesn't seem to be giving her trouble with breathing. Repeat echocardiograms will monitor her heart for function and left pulmonary artery to make sure it's growing and getting enough blood flow. We'll also have follow ups with hematology for the blood clots, genetics regarding her genetic duplication and the test results for how she metabolizes medicines and appointments for physical and occupational therapy. We'll be so happy to have a slower pace after they span out more after a while but for now we're so happy to be back home as a family and be spending time together.
Please keep praying for continued health for Iris and that our family would stay healthy as we're back in "quarantine mode" of staying home and away from sick people as much as possible. This flu and cold season is so bad and we really don't want Iris to end up back in the hospital! Keep the other families in your prayers also who are still in the hospital. Thank you!
An additional thought from Dayna Norvold (executive director):
I can't help but think how grateful I am that Iris and her parents are coming home... to their Habitat for Humanity home. A home that's provided such a place of stability for the Benson Family. We pray the home continues to provide stability and HEALTH to Iris and the whole family!.