Slow Progress... But we HAVE THE RIB!!

Today was a LONG day.... Joe had blood work done (spent an HOUR and a HALF waiting for that), then went to the doctor and got his drain removed (YEAH!). No word on the blood work yet, so we continue the dreaded shots for another day. Hopefully by tomorrow we will know more about his levels and will be able to stop the daily torture.

Joe is for sure off work for the next week and a half- maybe longer. I should be able to go back to work at the end of this week. Doctor says it will be months before Joe gets complete feeling back in his shoulder, but that range of motion does seem better already.

After all of that was done (and we got some food because we were starving) we headed back to the hospital to get the RIB. Let's just say it was a bit of a let down... One- you are not supposed to take it out of the liquid it is stored in. Two, it is tiny. Seriously. Tiny. Not quite what Joe had in mind I don't think! But, we have it. What we are going to do with it now... I'm not quite sure. But, it is back in Joe's possession. :) (I know, I know... SOME of you want pictures. I think I will post all the pics on Shutterfly- rather than posting them here. Some folks have sensitive stomachs you know! I will let you all know how to access those once I have them posted!)

Finished the day with a lovely pot roast dinner cooked by none other than the fabulous Nana. Let's just say I haven't seen a dinner get gobbled up like that one in awhile!!

Tomorrow brings home health care, physical therapy, and my wonderful cleaning ladies. So.. on that note, I should go pick up a bit so the cleaning ladies can at least FIND the floor in order to clean it.

That's all folks. And on that note... I am going to stop e-mailing everybody now when I post. I will keep posting, so if you are curious... stop on by. Hopefully soon we'll have some different stuff to talk about now that life is beginning to resemble normalcy once again. :)

Night all-
C

A Man and His Dog

Uneventful weekend here, which was greatly needed! Joe slept a lot, got visits from the home health care nurse and the physical therapist, did some exercises, got his shots twice a day (which he did NOT enjoy) and took a (much needed!) shower. He has even graduated to going up the stairs and sleeping in our bed instead of on the couch.

Kids had a good weekend. Saturday was a long day with Daddy resting and Momma trying to hold down the fort, but we still found time to read, do some homework and build a pillow fort in the living room. Sunday was an AWESOME day for the kids... Uncle Andrew came and took them for the afternoon. They saw a movie, had lunch at the Olive Garden and even went to the bookstore! Colin came home with a much prized Pokemon book, and Julia got a Wimpy Kid book. Uncle Andrew is my hero today, as this time gave me a chance to do some housework and take a much needed/desired nap. Thanks Uncle Andrew!!

Sunday also brought the return of our beloved Ellie. Jason dropped her off Sunday afternoon. Paige, Jason and the kids did a FANTASTIC job taking care of our girl... she looks great. I swear, she's been off at the doggie spa or something... nails are trimmed, she's had a bath, and she is a very happy dog. Words cannot express how much it means to Joe and I that Ellie was well taken care of for the last week... there was just no way that I could have managed caring for Joe and Ellie at the same time. Thank you thank you thank you Jason and Paige!!

It does feel like the world is finally turning right side up again, now that I have all my loved ones at home. Here's a photo showing my two invalids. :)

Tomorrow brings bloodwork (pray that Joe's levels are up and we can discontinue the hated shots), and a visit to the doctor with the hope that they can remove the last remaining item attached to Joe's body- the drain (pray that the drain has done it's job and everything looks good enough to do this).

I think all of us are struggling with staying positive- which seems odd at this point in the journey- but I think we are all tired and all ready for life to return to 'normal'. Everybody in the family has taken their turn at a melt-down today.. here's hoping that things will be better tomorrow. I keep thinking how lucky we are- that this is a temporary thing, that there will be normal again, that we are all here together- and I can keep those thoughts going for awhile- but then I lose it again and get lost in all that isn't normal. I'm sure I'll wade through it eventually...

That's all for tonight folks. Have a good one.
C

There's No Place Like Home!

Joe is home! :) Yeah!!!

We had to leave his rib in the hospital though. Pathology has been very busy for the past few days and they haven't gotten a chance to clean it yet. They promised to do so this weekend and said we could pick it up on Monday when we go back over to Good Sam for Joe's doctor appointment.

Joe will have a home health care nurse visit tomorrow (and possibly Sunday) and the physical therapist will come to our house tomorrow as well. I am responsible for his shots and emptying his drain. Hopefully by Monday his coumadin level will be high enough that we can discontinue the shots and the drain will be empty enough that they will feel comfortable taking it out.

Until then we have a QUIET weekend planned at home. I've managed to plan a couple of fun outings for the kids that will give them a chance to do something outside of the house- but I think Joe and I are in for the next couple of days.

I rented some movies this afternoon... I think we are planning on lots of 'vegging'.

That's all for now. Joe is SO happy to be at home. He will be even happier when he can take a shower. Have a wonderful, restful, enjoyable weekend everyone!
C

Wedding Ring

When Joe went into surgery, they had him take off his wedding ring and give it to me...

I've given him my wedding rings a number of times- he's worn them each time I've had a baby and each time I've had surgery. He always actually wore them too... even though he might have looked a little funny with that diamond solitaire on his pinky finger... he would wear my rings until I was ready to wear them again.

But, I've never had or worn his wedding ring before. Until this week. And yes, I'm wearing it right now on my index finger. Seems like a simple thing, but it's amazing the power it has had. Just wearing his ring is like having a part of him with me. I've actually found it very soothing- especially when he was in surgery, or at night when I was here without him.

I am looking forward to giving it back to him though... to actually having him wear it instead of me... to not NEED to wear it anymore. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.
He did have a good day today. We took several walks, and he promised to take a walk when his Aunt Suze came to visit him tonight. I've learned about the shots and the drain, so I am ready to care for him here at home. My dad and his step-dad came over to my house tonight to move furniture so that the reclining chair is in the same room as the tv. Looks like he and I will be sleeping in the reclining chair and on the couch for a few days until he's a little more stable. We've got the home health care and physical therapy scheduled. He's been weaning off the pain meds so he's a little more alert and ready to be home. My kids have gotten the 'we are going to really have to take care of Daddy' speech (and I spent the evening with them tonight, so I think they are feeling better and more connected.)

All that's left is to get him here... and to put the ring back on his finger.

As always, thanks for your help, prayers and support. I am in debt to so many folks right now. I don't think I ever knew or appreciated the sheer numbers of family and friends that we have surrounding us.

Love to you all. Will post tomorrow as soon as we are home!!
C

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!

Joe is coming home tomorrow! The doctor met with us today, and is going to start the process.... yeah!

He is having a wonderful day today, feeling SO much better....

Physical therapy went well, nurses taught me how to inject him with his meds.... we are moving forward!

He is supposed to take a walk every couple of hours, so we've been wandering the halls in the hospital. He says that it is nice to see the hospital from an upright position, rather than laying flat on his back.

Talk to you all soon!
C

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Soooo... right after I sent my earlier update, and about the time that they brought Joe his lunch tray, he decided to move his bed and sit up a bit. When he did that, he asked me if his neck looked swollen. I took one look at him and hit the call button...

Joe developed (rather quickly) a fist sized hematoma on his neck. The nurse came in, took one look at it and called the doctor. The on-call doctor came in and looked at it, and decided that he wanted the surgeon to see it. The surgeon came down as soon as he could and decided that Joe needed to have it drained. They were concerned for two reasons- he is still on high doses of blood thinners AND the location of the hematoma being so close to his airway in his neck. The surgeon did indicate that Joe could just wait and see what happened and see if his body would just resolve it, but that this would take 4-6 weeks. He also warned Joe that if it continued to progress he might need to have it dealt with on an emergency basis... where he probably wouldn't be the person to perform the surgery. Joe decided that it was making him very uncomfortable and he would rather just have the drain put in.

So, back to surgery we went. Again, we had great nurses, the anesthesiologist was excellent and the procedure went VERY well. Round trip from pre-op to surgery to recovery to back to his room was about 3 hours, which was excellent.

Joe is back in his room, with LOTS of good drugs. He did try eating some jello and some broth before I left tonight, and that seemed to go very well. Obviously he is EXHAUSTED (who isn't at this point?), but seems to be in better spirits now that his neck is not as swollen. That may be the morphine helping his spirits, but hey, I'll take it! :)

Tomorrow will bring a lot of education for me! I need to learn how to empty and clean the drain (it is possible he will come home with the drain still in, so they want to start teaching me how to care for it just in case), and I need to learn how to give Joe his injections. In an effort to NOT reintroduce heparin into his system at this point, they are going to use another drug that needs to be injected twice a day. Again, this will be a temporary thing, probably just for the first few days after he comes home, but they want to make sure I know how to take care of him properly... so we aren't ready to go home and just waiting for someone to teach me this stuff. Joe will also start physical therapy tomorrow... no excuses! The doctors are concerned about his range of motion and about muscle atrophy and really want to get him working that right arm!

On another note, I know many of you are wondering about my mom. The surgery on her eye went very well today. I talked to her several times throughout the day and she seemed to be in good spirits. She is looking forward to her appointment tomorrow when she will get the patch off of her eye, which will make seeing things much easier. She and my dad had the kids this afternoon/ this evening... which I can't even begin to thank them for, considering all that went on for them today!! Papa even did the bedtime routine at my house before I got home. Thanks Nana and Papa... you guys are amazing!

Again, hoping that tomorrow brings a little bit more normalcy for all of us- especially my kiddos. I know they are close to the end of their ropes, and so I've gotta find a way to balance all of this better so I can be there for them- and Joe. Prayers for God to show me the way to have some balance right now would be greatly appreciated. And as always, prayers for Joe to heal quickly and continue to have non-morphine induced good spirits.

Very tired, so I will close.
Until next time...
C

Hard Day

Just wanted to update you all this morning... Joe is having a rough start to the day. He is just feeling lousy, sleeping a lot... and generally having a rough go of it. The nurse is having the physical therapist wait for a bit before coming in because she just doesn't feel that Joe is up to it physically or emotionally. Good news is they are managing the pain well... he just feels really cloudy and out of it.

I left for a bit... he seems to sleep better if I am not sitting there looking at him, and I finally found a place in this hospital where I could connect to the internet... yeah! I figured I'd take advantage of this time to post a quick update.

No rib yet... Joe has to be well enough to go to pathology to get it... and he just isn't there yet. But, I have done my wifely duty and reminded the nurses that he does STILL want his rib.

I was hoping that today might return us to a slightly more normal schedule... maybe tomorrow.
Have a wonderful day folks. Thanks for all your positive thoughts and prayers. :)
C