So, nothing is ever BORING around the Wilson household, as most of you already know. The evening before we took off, mommy was sterilizing the custom trach tube ($300), while she and daddy were getting the van packed for the trip. Well, we forgot to set a timer, and voila - here's what NOT to do, ever. The obturator is completely melted, but mommy was able to salvage the trach tube, minus a few special "not hand-blown" bubbles where the tubing will attach. Another special needs first - I guess we are always blazing new trails. Maybe we should start the book on what NOT to do:-)
We made our first night in St. Louis. By the way, if you are ever in need of a hotel, DO NOT STAY at the Best Western St. Louis Inn. While the staff was super-friendly and helpful, the accommodations are lacking, to say the least. While in the bathroom, I felt a dripping on my arm... the bathroom ceiling was coming down on us! (This was after I requested someone please come clean the toilet - it was gross). So we got moved to another room, and the new bathroom had black mold on the ceiling, and black mold in the shower to match. How these people can charge a rack rate of $140 a night without a smirk on their faces while they take your money is really beyond me...
We made it to St. Joseph, MO without much trouble... but it wasn't long before the excitement began. We arrived at the Patee household to see the extended family to celebrate a joint Father's Day. But within 20 minutes, daddy went to check on parts of Braden's set-up only to find that his trach tube had come out... no alarms on the vent, no alarms on the pulse-ox - meaning that Braden can hold his own for a time being, which is the good news. The bad news is that after 4 tries, the old trach would not go in, we made the call to St. Joe paramedics, who arrived just in time for us to try the smaller trach size, and daddy got it in on the 3rd try at a funky angle - but it worked - praise God!! The paramedics were there for "moral support" and to help us get Braden at the right angle so daddy could make a good attempt at getting the trach in... we are just so thankful that our training kicked in and we knew what to do!
We spent a few calmer days in St. Joe with the Patee and Wilson grandparents, and Brad's brother Brian, his wife Jenny, and their son Carter flew in from Denver for a long weekend with us. We had dinner Father's Day evening with Wilson extended family, Monday night was treated to dinner at the local Cajun/LSU restaurant so we could watch the first of three games for the College World Series for LSU to take on TX and we won the first game. Tuesday we learned to play "The Farming Game" (circa 1979) and enjoyed family time.
Wednesday we made our way down to Wichita... mommy had to head to bed early not feeling well, and hope the Tigers would win without her cheering them on. They did win the national title - Geaux Tigers. Today mommy was slow out of the gate but feeling better, but Braden was not feeling his usual and slept pretty much all day except for a visit downstairs with more family tonight for a BBQ. Spending good time with Brad's brother Scott, his other brother Brent, his wife Bry, and son Koehn. (Ko-en) Looking forward to more time with friends and family this week... so more details are coming.
Thanks for checking in on us and our travels... seen five states so far this trip - three more to go before it's all over.
Brad, , Kodi & Braden
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