On Thursday night we found out that Ian’s transport to Michigan was probable for Friday early afternoon.  Sure enough Friday morning everything was confirmed.  We rushed around all morning getting things ready to go and Owen came to the hospital for a quick visit with his baby brother.  By 1pm we were on our way.  Ian did wonderfully with the transport.  The plane ride was a tiny bit scarey for me, but he snoozed the whole time.

Of course nothing happens without a few bumps in the road so when we got to Michigan and I noticed we were not in the beautiful area that I was promised, and I kept seeing signs for Detroit.  So, I started asking the ambulance driver questions.  I’m not sure if he was in shock, or if he really didn’t believe me, but he took some convincing that we were supposed to be going to CS Motts/University of Michigan Children’s hospital as opposed to Children’s Hospital of Michigan.  So, once we arrived at the wrong hospital, they scrambled to find some extra oxygen tanks and on we went to the correct hospital.  It took about 45 minutes, and, as promised, Ann Arbor is a beautiful area.

The whole transport was almost uneventful for Ian.  But, In true Ian style he had one of his desat episodes just as we pulled into the ambulance bay.  He wanted to be sure the transport team and the admitting team at the hospital knew why we had traveled so far.  Both teams worked really well together to get him settled.  The doctors and nurses in Michigan have been great about calling our team in Pittsburgh with questions, or asking me the best way to help Ian when he’s having one of his episodes.

Today was busy.  Ian had an echo in the morning and visits from Physical Therepy, Nutrition and the ENT team.  Even though it is the weekend, I’ve been really impressed that they have kept things moving for us as much as possible.  On Monday Ian will have a CT Scan and a Brocoscopy and Laryngoscopy.  This imaging will help them to develop the perfect splint for his airway.  Unfortunately we also learned today that it will likely be almost two weeks until the splint is ready for surgery.  The tentative surgery date is May 2nd.  So, we’ll be here a little longer than we had hoped, but we know it will be worth it in the end.

Justin and Owen are planning to come to Michigan on Monday and we will figure out how we’ll move forward from there.  Our tentative plan is to alternate staying with Owen and Ian so that each of our boys has time with both of us.  And I think it will really help our own sanity to have breaks.  I am already missing Owen and Justin so much, so I am really looking forward to Monday.

Michigan is nice and we have been treated with such incredible kindness, but I have to say, there really is no place like home.