Post-Surgery News Update

     Kevin's recovery from the foot surgery he had last Friday has gone pretty well.  It’s certainly been a whole heck of a lot smoother than it has in the days after some of the other surgeries he's had over the years.

     In the past our post-surgery crises have included but not been limited to: adverse reactions to prescribed painkillers, complications with infection, fever, and the death of a family member who lived hours away. 
     The worst post-surgery collaboration of traumas occurred after Kevin had his fifth metatarsal removed.  I was nannying for my two little guys at the time, didn’t get a whole lot of sleep at night because of pain management, medicine reactions, blood sugar issues, and such, so I wasn’t exactly the most patient Pollyanna-like nurse on the planet. 

     I took care of two young toddlers, ran home at lunch to check on Kevin, then worked the rest of the day before returning home more interested in collapsing than waiting on my husband.  That evening we found out Kevin’s mom was declining quickly.  Though she’d been in a nursing home for a number of years with an advanced case of Alzheimer’s, she surprised us by outliving Kevin’s father, who in the last couple years of his life also succumbed to the terrible illness.
     Kevin called and talked to his mother and let her know that she’s loved and that it was okay to let go, something we’d been told by hospice is important to do so people don’t feel they have to hold on.  I was too exhausted that evening to consider what arrangements might need to be made, so I put it off until the morning. 
      The next morning, after significant sleep deprivation and middle of the night pain management, I called one of the families I worked for in tears explaining that I could work for half a day, but that I needed some time to figure out how we’d make it up to Rochester, New York for his mother’s service and burial.  That afternoon I came home to work on travel arrangements and be there with Kevin, so he wouldn’t be alone when he received the call. 
     Kevin was supposed to be at home resting with his foot up that week.  I was trying to figure out how we could get up to Rochester and find out if his doctor would okay such a trip.  I knew I wasn’t up to doing a nine hour drive one-way.  Fortunately, one family I worked for offered us their frequent flyer miles so we could fly up to Rochester for the funeral.  We were beyond grateful! Traveling to upstate New York in a blizzard with Kevin on crutches and me feeling frazzled and carrying all of our luggage was a fiasco, but we made it. 
  We’re truly grateful God has agreed we deserved a little less insanity this time around. So far, so good.  Please keep the prayers coming that recovery will continue smoothly.  Thanks!