Santa Visit!

Dakin got to see Santa on Thursday--it was a wonderful visit that we had been planning for a few weeks now. About 3 or so weeks ago, I stopped by the mall to talk to the "elves" about Dakin's situation to see what we could do so he could see Santa. The "elf" was wonderful--she gave me her personal cell phone number so we could call and set up a specific day and time. She also arranged for us to "sanitize" the Santa space--we got to Lysol the whole area and even poor Santa...They got there early to give us plenty of time and to ensure that we were first to help control germ exposure. They were so kind and understanding of our situation. We are truly grateful that there are people out there willing to help us do something as simple as seeing Santa.

Dakin really enjoyed the trip--after, we got to walk around the mall. He just stared at everything. It would have been perfect if Mommy hadn't forgotten the electrical plugs for the equipment...we're so lucky Dakin didn't need to be suctioned more than he did. When we travel anywhere with Dakin we have to have at least two people--one to drive, and one to ride in the back with him in case there's a problem. We have to take his ventilator (which by itself weighs 20 lbs., so with him it's the equivalent of carrying a second grader...) his suctioner, emergency bag (which includes his backup and stepdown trachs), AMBU bag, and all that on top of a regular diaper bag. It's quite a bit. We've pretty much gotten it down to a science now, though.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip and a testament to the fact that there are still decent and good people out there. This trip made my Christmas.