The dream has finally come true for the Kohn family: Will’s heart surgery has been a success, and he was finally able to come home after a long 332 days— just before the holidays this year. Will is going to be spending this Christmas with his family in the comfort of their own home.

This will be a big change in scenery for Will, but so far, he’s enjoying being home according to his dad, Chris Kohn. Kohn says that his son is overall much happier and smiling even more. Any kid would much rather be at home, especially for Christmas, than in a hospital room, and that’s what Will is enjoying. He has fun playing with his Legos and watching movies with his mom and dad.

According to the Kohns, it has been different now that they are home. Kohn said, “Things have gone well, but there is a lot to get used to. Our spare room is full of medical supplies, and Will has some pretty busy days filled with physical and occupational therapies, visiting nurses, and weekly visits to Iowa City. Along with the decent amount of daily medications and nightly dialysis.” There is a lot to be kept track with all of those supplies and making sure Will himself is doing okay.

They do have some struggles as well. “Struggles would be getting accustomed to the daily routine and getting used to being a family again at home with everything going on. We spent almost a year apart,” Kohn mentioned. Desite the challenes, the family is working hard to get things as close as normal as it can get. The Christmas spirit is helping them reunite as a family.

“Will is still pretty fragile so we cannot have too many people around him at once and no one is allowed in our house that is not feeling well.” They have to be careful about who is around Will due to “him still needing to heal and being immune compromised with the new transplant.” They will still be having a few close members of their family over to help them celebrate Christmas and the New Year.

“This new year, hopefully will be a big one to get Will on the full mend. The first thing he needs to do is become more mobile on his own.” According to Kohn, Will prefers to be carried around, but at sometimes he will use his pediatric walker. The stronger he can get before his next procedure, the better the outcome will be. They are also hoping that his abdomen will heal this new year; that way, he can get a kidney transplant. Once all of those things happen, he can have his airway reconstructed and get the trach taken out.

The Kohn fanily is hoping for the best for this new year, and they are one step closer to full recovery.