Last night we had our last braai :( and tonight we had our last decent piece of steak :(. Time for some German food for us but we are very hopeful that we will find a braai somewhere in Graz that we can say we braaied in Austria!!
We are both feeling very confident, no worries and stress this side, we are prepared and we are ready! Long flights ahead of us. Durban to Joburg (1 hour 10 mins), we leave at 13:40 then next flight is at 19:25 from Joburg to Frankfurt (10 hours 45 mins) then next flight is at 8:25 from Frankfurt to Graz (1 hour 15 mins). It's hard to believe listing to a plane flying over now that we will be on a plane to another country tomorrow!! Very exciting indeed.
It's been 5 and a half months since we started fundraising, can you believe it? It has gone SO quickly and now we are here, our dream has become a reality, we are going to Austria to help Jason to eat again!!! Whoo hoo I can't wait to get rid of these tubes and things, can't wait for no more overnight feeds via the pump where I wake up at least 4 times a night, can't wait for being able to go somewhere without planning it around tube feeds, can't wait to be able to go and watch a movie or have a dinner alone with my husband. It will be nice packing for a visit without packing everything but the kitchen sink, carting pump stands and tubes and formula. No more waking up to burst mic-key tubes and stress about the stoma site closing. BUT most of all we can't wait for our little boy to start tasting and enjoying food!!!
As it stands my expectations aren't too high I know how hard this is going to be. I think I have prepared myself mentally knowing that Jason is going to be starved and going to lose a lot of weight and going to be very confused by everything that is happening. BUT I decided long ago when we started planning this trip to trust the doctors over there and basically "hand him over" as my dad says!! I am not expecting anything too high, I just know that any improvement will be better than what we have now, if they can help Jason to eat and hopefully drink, that will be great. Remember that Jason will not come home eating cottage pie or spaghetti, he may only come back eating custard or chocolate but the idea is he will progress from there and he needs to sustain himself without the feeding tube.
Just so you all know we won't have internet connection until Monday when we are actually admitted in the hospital. The B&B apparently doesn't have connection but the hospital does. So don't stress if you haven't read any updates from me, I will update as soon as possible.
Tomorrow the day we depart is 2 years since Jason's nissan fundoplication op and when the tube was put in. How is that for co-incidence, 2 years ago we were preparing for a big op to get a tube and now we are preparing for a big trip to get rid of the tube!!!
In closing I would like to share with you guys the words to our song that we dedicated to Jason when he was born and in neonatal ICU. It is a song by the Traveling Wilburys called "End of the Line" -
Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please
Well it's all right, doing the best you can
Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand
You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring, at the end of the line
Waiting for someone to tell you everything, at the end of the line
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow'd bring, at the end of the line
Maybe a diamond ring
Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong
Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it's all right, as long as you got somewhere to lay
Well it's all right, every day is judgment day
Maybe somewhere down the road a way, at the end of the line
You'll think of me and wonder where I am these days, at the end of the line
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays, at the end of the line
Purple haze
Well it's all right, even if push comes to shove
Well it's all right, if you got someone to love
Well it's all right, everything'll work out fine
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line
Don't have to be ashamed of the car I drive, at the end of the line
I'm just glad to be here, happy to be alive, at the end of the line
And it don't matter if you're by my side, at the end of the line
I'm satisfied
Well it's all right, even if you're old and gray
Well it's all right, you still got something to say
Well it's all right, remember to live and let live
Well it's all right, best you can do is forgive
Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please
Well it's all right, even if the sun don't shine
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line