Bittersweet

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday! It was crazy busy! But Britton is all moved in to his new crib. They moved him from the ICU yesterday evening, over to the Neurological Acute Rehab Center, just across town. Since he is still not awake and fully ready for the facility, they have made the necessary arrangements to compliment Britton and his needs here. We are excited for the next step, we are hoping that soon he will open those eyes, and be able to start participating in more demanding physical therapy. Slowly but surely.

Oh my heck. you should have seen all of us yesterday. It was an emotional day, for the sole reason that we had to leave the ICU. Weird right? You would think you would want to leave the ICU, it's not exactly the ideal place to be. And of course we are so happy that Britt doesn't HAVE to be there anymore. But everyone there, the doctors, the nurses, the therapists, they became our family. When you spend 48 days in the same place, you get to know everyone really well, and you develop friendships. They were there for us through the whole thing. Since day one. The ups and the downs. The tears and the smiles. It was really hard to have to leave them all. I can't even begin to tell you how amazing that unit is. Seriously, incredible. Every single one of those people are so good at what they do, and just genuinely great people. I will never be able to thank them for loving my brother the way they did, and for loving my family. The way they cared for him, and for us. We wouldn't be here, today, where we are...and neither would Britton, if it weren't for every single person there. And those doctors, where to even begin. We had the 3 best doctors in the whole wide world, taking care of our Britt. I mean what more could you ask for? And they weren't just doctors to us...they were so much more. I admire them for their knowledge, wisdom and work ethic. For being able to do what they do, it blows my  mind. My family will forever be eternally grateful for them and everything they have done for my brother. So thank you.

Thank you to the nurses who were constantly reassuring my mom that it was going to be okay.

Thank you to the nurses who would be there for my dad in the wee hours of the night, just to talk to him and keep him company when he needed it.

Thank you to the physical therapist who held me tight and kept me calm that scary day when we thought we might lose him.

Thank you to the doctors, who performed life saving surgeries, and procedure, made life saving decisions and calls on my brothers behalf, every single day.

Thank you to the techs who would bring us pepsi after pepsi after pepsi, pillows, blankets, and toast in the morning, always checking in on us and making sure we were comfortable.

Thank you to the secretaries, who answered over 1000 calls a day on the phone from our family alone, just to let us in.

Thank you to the nurses who loved my brother, and cared for him as if he was their own.

Thank you to the entire ICU for putting up with all of us, in our worst moments. For being there for us, when we needed you most.

And thank you for never giving up on my brother, for believing in him from day 1.

Every single one of you saved him....saved all of us.

I can honestly say that some of the relationships we developed with them over the past 7 weeks, will continue on for years to come. They will be close friends for the rest of our lives.

It took me about an hour to take everything down that was on his wall of fame. We had boxes FULL of stuff, notes, signed jerseys, helmets, balls, pictures, posters, etc. It was actually really sad, having to take it all down. But so humbling, because it was yet another reminder of how my brother is so loved. By so many.

We had to call in reinforcements and have a few boys from the waiting room come help us pack down all our stuff and boxes.

When the ambulance came to pick Britt up and the crew came to get him on the gurney, about 15 nurses and staff were gathered outside of his room, watching. All of us girls were crying, it was quite the scene hahah. But as they wheeled Britton out everyone said their goodbyes, and we hugged, and cried some more, and tried to express how grateful we were for them and how much we were going to miss them.

It is going to be so weird to not walk into the ICU everyday, and see all of the familiar smiling faces. But how awesome is it...that it will be hard. That this wasn't easy for our family, to leave the ICU. How cool is it that we were able to develop such great friendships and relationships with all of them, that it made it hard to leave. I can't think of a greater place, with greater people.

I can't wait for my brother to walk through those doors one day. With a smile on his face. Those pretty green eyes wide open.

For them to meet my brother, the real Britt. Not the hurt one.

For him to see them, get to know them, and love them like we did.

For him to thank them, for saving his life, for caring for him and about him, and for believing in him.

I can't wait for that day.

Britton is now in the neurological acute rehab in the old hospital across town. We already love it here! Everyone is so awesome. And Britt even has a nice big window in his room to let in some of that nice st george sunshine. It is very different in a lot of ways, but we think a little change will be good! He is still fighting the bacterias and bugs, but as far as we can tell they are under control. So we are crossing our fingers it stays that way!! It will probably take up to 3-4 weeks for his body to get rid of them completely. We are excited for what the future might hold. We hope that Britt will open those eyes of his soon, and that he will be able to start his long but fulfilling road to recovery:)