Day 354

1. Jacob looking out at the hospital post doctor appointment.

2. Jacob and I enjoying our lunch in the kids wing.

3. What else? 

Today was interesting. 

When we woke up this morning we found out that poor Mom had spent all night throwing up in the hospital. Sounded just horrible. Then all the boys went off to their respective duties and Jacob and I headed up to the hospital for a post-op appointment. Afterwards while eating lunch, I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to go to my dentist appointment that afternoon, since no one would be home with Jacob, so I had to call and cancel. I felt so badly, but with excuses such as I'm still up at a hospital in Portland, and my Mom's recovering from surgery in the hospital and my Dad's with her so there's no one to take care of Jacob as all the boys are at work/school, I felt like I had a good excuse. 

After our lunch, Jacob and I walked out to the car, where, oh horrors, he fell down. I had been walking by him the whole time we were out and about, just as a precaution against this very thing, and then when we were about 5 feet away from the car, I started walking ahead so I could open the door, and he slipped on what must of been a water/oil mixture. It hurt him bad. (nice English there, eh?) So I helped him to the car, and then I went through the rigamarole of finding the number and calling the doctors office to get a hold of the PA to make sure there wasn't anything I was supposed to do. And of course the reception is spotty and the internet was slow. There wasn't anything to do so we headed slowly home.

Now for the past two hours I had been trying to get ahold of Dad/Mom to find out if we could visit them after the doctors appointment, but they weren't answering their phones. So we headed towards the hospital hoping someone would call back. However, Jacob hurt so badly and was feeling so nauseated from the muscle spasms that he wasn't up to it. It was really sad to drive by the hospital and not be able to go in!

Then we had to stop in OC, so we could pick up Jacobs pain meds, and of course our normal pharmacy didn't have it. Then I had to go to another pharmacy, and they had it but it wasn't going to be ready for a while. Well, Jacob was more then ready to be home, so I arranged to Tyler to pick it up on his way home and we headed home. 

Once home, we got Jacob resettled on a mattress with a foam pad on top so he would be super comfortable, and I worked on dinner. I also had to keep trying to get him to drink a little so we could get pain meds down so he would feel better.

Tyler and Scott came home and we had a little dinner, and then Tyler headed up to the hospital to bring Dad a fresh change of clothes. By this time they had decided that Mom needed to spend another night as she was still having a hard time eating. 

Later that evening, once everyone was home, we facetimed Mom and Dad. Everyone was piled on Jacobs mattress so that he could see, when I realized that he was not looking well, at all. So I shooed everyone off, and grabbed a bowl. Well, the second I sat down next to him, he started to ahem, up chuck. I was able to swish the bowl under him and catch it all! And let me tell you, it was a really good thing. Because, drumroll, please. He was lying in front of directly eye level with, the Christmas tree. Yes The Tree. And he would have covered the Christmas tree with throw up. And what do you do with a tree decorated in such a way? So far no one I've asked has ever had to figure that out, and I pray I never do! So yeah, after we realized what had just barely not happened, there were huge sighs of relief and Praising the Lords. Whew.

The never ending day ended finally. Andrew and Daniel both slept in the family room with Jacob (I asked one to volunteer and neither one wanted to miss out) and I watched Toy Story (1&2) with them until 1am or so, when I determined that Jacob wasn't going to throw up the latest round of pain meds. Whew. Well, that's all folks!

(Full disclaimer... I'm actually writing this on 2/12/13.. but believe me, this is what I would have posted if I had felt up to it.)

Day 353

1. A beautiful light snowfall fell this morning and then slowly melted away. I took a walk in it with Tonka when it was still falling. 
2. Our huge pin oak got trimmed! It went from a shaggy beast to a work of art. Don't know why we didn't do this years ago!
What else? Mostly just taking care of Jacob and doing household chores. Mom went into surgery this afternoon for a disc fusion and disc replacement in her neck. She was having a really hard time waking up afterwards and is in a lot of pain, so she's spending the night. Rather a sad evening.  

(Full disclaimer... I'm actually writing this on 2/12/13.. but believe me, this is what I would have posted if I had felt up to it.)

Surgery, etc.

Well, quite a bit has happened since I posted. I began the week with a gallbladder and ended it without one.

I met with the surgeon on Monday. It was one of the most painless appts I've ever had. I think it helped that I looked pretty pathetic. I had started feeling a whole 'nother notch worse on Sunday, really achy and tired, so he pretty much said, let's do this sooner rather than later and I think we can fit you in on Tuesday. And I thought, Praise God.

So on Tuesday, I got it out. Nothing to spectacular. I do remember going into the operating room and joking with the anesthesiologist about the Christmas music playing. I thought that was pretty awesome that they had music playing in the operating room. Thankfully, I didn't really seem to get nervous before the operation; or else I was just too out of it!

Dad was so sweet and he took me. Once I had woken up and been wheeled into the recovery room he just hung out with me while I slept. Every once in a while he would give me a little cracker or soda. Eventually he ran out of laptop juice and we realized that we could turn on the TV and watch cable.  Yes! (we don't have cable) We found Modern Marvels and decided it was nice that we had the same taste in TV shows.  I then slept on and off for what seemed like hours, but eventually I felt well enough to try moving around and then we headed home.

Me. Not at my best. I think my dad was bored.

 Once we got home, everyone was very eager to see my war wounds, two under my ribs and one near the belly button. (I also have an impressive 4" circle bruise under my belly button!) and Daniel made me some Hot Chocolate to sip. Also, my mother anticipated that I would be wanting some English muffins and got them out from the freezer an hour before I got home. I didn't know this so when I got home, so I was bummed when Daniel came and told me there weren't any in the freezer. I was SO sure that I had seen some earlier! Then happy surprise when Mom told me the truth. I love her.

Now, if I had to do it all over again, I would have stayed in the hospital overnight. I didn't take my pain meds as quickly as I could have/should have when I got home, so I wasn't as comfortable as I could have been until around 2am. I also didn't realize that I was going to have to sleep in the LZ boy couch/chair thingy. Thank God we had it though! So yeah, next time, spend the night.The next morning, Tyler, who is so sweet and kind loaned me his 4" foam topper mattress so that I could sleep on my bed. I also lowered my sleep number from 100 to 30 and added about 4-6 pillows in a wedge formation so I could sleep on my back. Yay for pillows!Also, big secret out there. My mother shared this with me, so all credit goes to her. If you like electric blankets, put them underneath you. This has made all the difference. It makes it so much easier to get up, since I only have to deal with the comforter! And it has a much different, more comforting sort of warmth, if that makes any sense....

Anyways, recovery has been slow but fine. And really, in some ways I felt better hours after the surgery than I had in weeks! I did come down with a fever one night, which worried us, but the surgeon said it was probably nothing to be concerned about and thankfully it broke that night. Mostly I've just been doing a lot of sleeping. The first three days I slept a good couple of hours almost every time I took my pain meds. Today's the first day I haven't felt like I slept all day. My appetite is also slowly coming back! Tonight I ate the more food than I think I've eaten all week.

So, I'm glad this week is over. And I'm definitely looking forward to feeling like it's Christmas season and actually taking part in it. Instead of me just observing it. I love going to Portland at Christmastime and today the family went, gasp, without me! Oh well, I guess I forgive them. And really, my family's been just great; they deserved a day of having fun without having to wait on me hand and foot. :)