Bitter-Sweet Day ... Good-bye to Dr. Porter

I hated to see this day come. Our most favorite Dr. ever has resigned and is moving to a northern state to practice. We knew this day was coming but man, I wasn't really ready for it. I am going to miss Dr. Porter with everything within me. That man is more than just our son's Dr. - he has been an encourager, a friend, a mentor, a comforter, and we are going to miss him so very much. I don't know how things are going to go for our son, but I pray that his replacement will be just as dear to our hearts as he is!

Dr. Porter called us this morning with an update on Kadin. He is so very excited and pleased with Kadin's progress over the past couple of weeks. It was a little "iffy" about how he would do, but Dr. Porter was confident enough to take the chances that needed to be taken and challenge Kadin to move forward.

During his update, he expressed himself about how he feels about Danny and me. He has expressed these things before, but it is so wonderful to know that you have such a bond with someone, especially someone you have to trust every hour of the day to make sure your child has the best possible care available. We were greeted in the unit this morning by Dr. Porter and he had open arms for us ... I wanted to cry. I will miss him so very much. He is such an inspiring man.

One of the most adoring qualities I love about Dr. Porter is that he is always willing to talk with you. He brings things into a perspective that helps you grasp what is happening, what can happen, what isn't happening, etc ... He isn't afraid to be personal with you and make sure you are doing ok. It's not one of those "How are you?" 's where he is just looking for something to say ... he means it.

I dig people like that. It seems there aren't very many REAL people left in this world. I am just so blessed that we were able to be given the experiences we've had with Dr. Porter. We will truly and deeply miss him .....

On another note ... Kadin is almost 5 pounds! I believe it's 4 pounds, 15.9 ounces. His eye exam yeilded some unexpected results. His left side is abnormal and will probably require some correction, but the right side has not changed much. This means it could be improving ... really it could go either way. We will know more on that in about a week. His feeds have gone up to 39mls and I am not pumping near enough to keep up. My Dr. in San Angelo has prescribed me some meds to help in my milk production and they seem to be working right now. If they have not helped boost my supply enough to take care of what the baby needs they will be starting some formula for him. They are adding some powder to help increase his caloric intake and even one nurse said that maybe my supply is not as plentiful because I might be making what calories he needs without the bulk of milk. His oxygen is at 30%, which is down from the increase over the past couple of days. His picc line came out today also and the nurse was going to try to give him a scrubbing on his little head to get the junk off .... His antibiotics are finished so no need right now for the lines or the meds. Dr. Porter said that he never had the full infection, just the presence of the bugs, which I guess I misunderstood. I understood that he had the infection. Dr. Porter also showed us the most recent xray and it was very good!

So ... ok, we are going to the hospital in a few minutes, taking some more clothes for him (like he doesn't have enough!) and his mobile that my sister bought him long before he was born! I will take pictures !!!

Night . . .