Merry Christmas everyone! What a wonderful holiday we all had this year. Everyone was healthy, which was a change from last Christmas. We celebrated with both sets of families this year too... and it was so nice seeing everyone (even though some of the celebrations happened early in the month). Ben got SO MANY gifts, and I think we are going to have to add a wing to the house to put them in! Ben is a very deserving little boy, so we allowed a little spoiling.
Ben is now a little boy on the go. He is rolling around like a tumble weed. For the first time, he has realized he can move and get wherever he wants. And, he has gotten rather quick too. He does this log roll and just keeps on going until he hits something (time for the coffee table to go downstairs). We are working on getting him to roll in both directions. He has perfected his left side roll and has a little more trouble on the right. We are just thrilled!!! (Although it does make being hooked up to an IV pole for feeds rather tricky).
Hope this holiday finds everyone happy and healthy. Love the Russo family. PS - Be sure to check out some of the new pics in the gallery!

Home for the holidays!!

Home for the holidays!!
Yes, that's right - I'm home bound. I just found out that I'm going home on Friday (exactly four months after my birthday). Can you believe it? I'm so excited, I don't know what to do with myself. I will definitely miss all of my friends at the hospital, but I won't miss what they do to me (sorry nurses, no offense - I know it is your job). Mommy and daddy have been smiling from ear to ear since they found out, so they must be pretty excited too. All the prayers and warm wishes have helped! Thank you.

Love Ben
http://www.benrusso.com/

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G-Tube Surgery Went Well

Good morning-
Surgery went well - took a little longer than expected, but I'm recovering like a champ now.
Love Ben

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Thanksgiving

Hi!

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I definitely did. I have a lot to be thankful for this year. My health, wonderful doctors and nurses, great friends and family members, turkey flavored milk... the list goes on and on. So thank you everyone for being so supportive to me and my family.

I, like everyone else is putting on a little holiday weight. In fact, I'm over 10 lbs now! I've tripled my weight in my first four months of live. The doctors think it's great, but I'm a bit concerned that I have more rolls than the local bakery. If only I could walk, I'd work out... but until then I guess I'll embrace my new husky physique.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I have surgery to get a G-tube (for feedings), Nissen (to prevent reflux), PE tubes (to drain the fluid from my ears) and whatever else the doctors decide to do to me when I'm under. My mommy and daddy were able to have both ENT and General Surgery work together and get everything taken care of at once so I didn't have to get anesthesia twice. It took a while to schedule, but the wait is over and the big day is now here. They plan on wheeling me to the OR around 1:00 p.m. I think I'll be in there for about three hours. I'm sure everything will go well, but I'll keep you posted. Oh, and I posted some Thanksgiving pictures in the Photo Gallery. Be sure to check them out and remember, the camera adds 5 pounds.
Take care!

Love Ben.
http://www.benrusso.com/

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Need a G-Tube and Nissen

Long time, no talk! I have been one busy baby lately. After I recovered from my trach surgery, and successfully got taken off my vent... I got moved to my own room!! Yes, that's right - I'm no longer considered unstable and critical. I'm still in the ICU, but I think that's just because the nurses love me so much (check out photos of my new room in the photo gallery). My new room has a TV (to watch Steelers games), a phone, my own bathroom, a shower and a bed so my mommy/daddy can stay with me. It's even a corner room too... with two windows! Hmm, I hope we don't have to pay extra for the second window. They seem to charge you for everything in this place. I better check on that tomorrow.

Back to business - in order for me to go home, I have to be able to take full feeds. Since I'm still not sure about this whole bottle thing (I suck on it like crazy, I just don't get out much), I have to get a G tube (feeding tube in my stomach). My mommy and daddy will be able to work with me on the bottle, but I'll get all my nutrition through the G tube. That surgery is scheduled for December 2. At the same time, I will also be getting tubes in my ears. I wish the surgery could have been sooner, but I was told that some holiday called Thanksgiving is throwing everything off... have any of you heard of this holiday or am I being told a tall tale? Either way, I'm still hopeful that I will be home for Christmas. We will just be cutting it a little closer than we wanted. Santa, I'll keep you updated so you know where to go.

Take care everyone. I love hearing from all of you and can't tell you how honored I am to have so many kind, caring friends. Thanks for the ongoing prayers and well wishes.

Love Ben
http://www.benrusso.com/

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Extubated!!

Greetings from the pod!

I am pleased to tell everyone that I have been extubated and I no longer need my vent or any kind of breathing support (for the first time ever in my life). And I must say, this is nice! Now I can get picked up without ten people helping (not that I didn't like all the ladies doting on me... it was just a little herky jerky). I have to wear a misting collar to keep my secretions loose, but I can go home with that. Once I get eating under control, I'll be on my way home. When do babies start learning how to walk? I'm thinking of working on that too so when I'm ready to go home, I can just GO!

Be sure to check out my photo gallery (under - before trach surgery and after). I have a picture of me without anything on my face (now my feeding tube is back on, but it was off for one wonderful day). For all the ladies out there, you can also check out a photo of me in the tub. Look out David Hasselhoff!!
Until next time - Ben

www.BenRusso.com

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Trach Surgery a Success

Hello everyone. Just want you to know that Ben's trach surgery went well. He is recovering and is already on low vent settings. The doctors will try and remove the trach vent tomorrow to see how he does. They are confident he'll be just fine.

I just wanted to send a quick update. I'm getting off now before Ben realizes I'm using his laptop.

Mike(aka Dad)

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