This was another long day for Judah. Michael was with him this time for the surgery, and I was home doing whatever it is that I do there. Today I got some grocery shopping done and some laundry, but it seemed like the rest of the day just slipped through my fingers.

Grammy was not going to be home during our regular switch-off time, so some friends came over to stay with the kids while I hurried to Peoria to trade places with Michael. Thank you to Bruce & Lisa for being so kind about coming over last-minute to help us. We are very grateful.

When I arrived, I found that we had just missed some visitors. So sorry, Bill & Tammy, that we missed you! The nurses station keeps a little book with the approved visitors, so if you decide to head this way, let me know so I can get your name put in the book. The pediatric ward is locked, and I guess they’re pretty strict about who gets to come in.

A few minutes after I got here, Judah was wheeled back to his room from surgery. He was fussy and out of sorts. But I was so glad to see Michael and Judah that I didn’t mind at all. While Judah got settled and rearranged, Michael and I caught up on the bits of news and details that we usually exchange before we part ways again.

Amazingly, after Michael left, Judah decided to be cheerful. I gave him some new Play-Doh that I had brought as a gift for him. He discovered, to his great delight, that if he pressed the playdough onto the snap-thingie that was stuck to his chest from surgery, that it made little holes in the playdough. He made two holes and then said, “Look…I made eyes!”

A short time later, Grammy and Todd stopped by for a visit. (I made sure to run put their names on the list when I heard they were coming.) I expected Judah to be crabby and inhospitable to our guests, but to my amazement, he was quite charming. We visited until Judah declared he wanted to go to the play room. Grammy and Uncle Todd followed us down to the playroom. Judah played for a long time and kept Uncle Todd hopping with his requests for different toys.

After our guests left, Judah finally fell asleep. He’s sleeping quite peacefully now. I don’t know what the night holds, but I’m hopeful that it will be better than last night.

I guess the next step is to see what the doctor says tomorrow about what we can expect next.

Thanks to all for praying and for your offers of help. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is Luke’s birthday, and my mother is going to bring over a special lunch from Hot Wok. Tomorrow night we have a meal from the Nagles. Tomorrow also marks one week since Judah was admitted to the hospital. What a week it has been.