Thursday was a major milestone in this roller-coaster of a life we’ve been experiencing the last couple of weeks. We took Jackson to see the surgeon concerning how his leg was healing and if we could take the drain out yet. Kristen and I had decided we were going to do our best to convince the doctor that she should take it out. You see, they had originally told us that we could likely take it out before we even left the hospital (we left on Saturday). Then they said that if we called on Monday, we could set up an appointment to take it out, potentially that day. We called on Monday and they said we should come in on Thursday.

So, we went in on Thursday. The surgeon said that everything had healed very nicely. He didn’t seem to have any mobility issues. He could stretch and bend his leg without any pain or resistance. And he was able to stand on his leg without any problems.

Then came the drain. The doctor said she would take it out, although there was still several ccs’s of liquid coming out. We were so relieved. So she quickly yanked it out, much to Jackson’s chagrin. He let out a yelp and cried some, but I think he’s glad to not have that impediment any more. The doctor also said that he can now crawl and stand and do anything else, except for take a full-fledged bath. That’s because he still has a hole where the drain was, and that has to heal. She thought it would take around a week to scab over.

In the meantime, he has been making up for lost time. He’s crawling, wanting to stand and climb on and over anything in his way. He especially likes the Seckinger’s dog, Noah.

We will see the surgeon for the final time on the 27th, at which point we’re assuming she’ll say everything has healed perfectly, which will then allow Jackson to get his medical clearance back so he can travel to Bogota.

I’ve attached a short video we took with our camera of Jackson in a wagon, before the surgery. You can tell why he feels like a prince. It has been quite a let down for him to come home to normal life!

[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=9Cul43hTX3Y]