Kelptyn has survived and conquered so much already in his 1st year of life:
*spent more than 100 days in the hospital
*9 surgeries
*a ton of x-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds, and MRIs
*23 blood and platelets transfusions to date
*too many needle pokes and blood draws to count (+100)
*kicked out IVs
*battled infections, nose bleeds, bloody vomit/stools, excessive diarrhea, mouth sores, fevers
*a broken arm
*catheters
*sleep study, hearing, eye, bone, and heart exams
*went 14 days NPO
*couldn't eat for about 3 weeks post-chemo
*had highs & lows on narcotics
*several nights in the ICU
*bone marrow transplant
* and the list goes on....
Yet, through it all Kelptyn has learned to wave bye-bye, request more, shake his head no, give high fives, and lights a room on fire with his smile. Hooray for our Happy Star! I feel so blessed to be a part of his AMAZING story. I remember crying the day we brought Kelptyn in to the hospital for his 8th stay. I didn't know WHEN or IF we'd be able to bring our baby home again.
Well, today brings me tears of joy cause Kelptyn Jack is sailing on home with us. He has left a permanent mark on the wall of a tiny10' x 5' closet in the hospital. A closet in which we spent many hours in, playing or sleeping, while the wonderful cleaning crew cleaned our room. Thank you to Wendy, the painter, who painted our son's initials on the back of a small boy sailing with his Mom & Dad. We think it's symbolic of our family sailing on out of the hospital.
To our family and friends who have supported us along the way...THANK YOU! We continue to read each and every message and we are so thankful to have you in our lives. We look forward to celebrating with you once Kelptyn is cured!
To our neighbors on the 2nd floor at Children's Hospital and the many across the globe that are battling life threating blood disorders or cancer, you have touched our lives deeply and shared our journey. We will never be the same, but we will live better because we continue to fight. We will continue to pray for you and put our prayers into action.
If there's one thing that we can all learn...it's that we can all do something. Whether we give of ourselves and donate blood, platelets, or bone marrow....or volunteer our time to make someone's day brighter...or donate our money to organizations that continue to help save lives....we can all do something!
The following pictures and video is from our hospital departure, but the water works really hit Kelptyn's Mama when we walked into our home and I said: "Kelptyn we're home!"