Home Again - the Long Road to Recovery

Well, we've been home for nearly a week. It's been a long several days of work, crazy kids, and of course, cleaning wounds. Tuesday we've got to go back for a follow up to get stitches out, and next Monday will be time to get the packing out (Merry Christmas!)

Jewlz's ear looks a lot better - no more bleeding from the incision. Her packing is pretty gnarly still. And if she does much physical activity, like walking up and down the stairs, it gets a little bleedy. She's struggling with not doing things. When there's a messy house, all she wants to do is clean clean clean. That's our current struggle.

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Last Night and This Morning

Well, yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind. It was more like 45 minutes when they finally called me back to recovery. Her aunt & cousin also showed up about 2 minutes before that. Jewlz was very out of it, as one is. She was so relieved to be able to finally have some ice, after almost 24 hours without water. When she started sitting up, her wound started getting a bit drippy, so they had to redress it before she was able to finish getting dressed. But we got the wound and her dressed and then headed back to the hotel.

At that point I left her with family while I headed to Walmart to fill her prescription. I managed to do that with 15 minutes to spare - they actually closed up shop after they checked me out.

I got back to the hotel and her family had to go home, but some friends showed up with dinner for us both. Especially at the time, words could not quite communicate our appreciation. The food and friendship did much to raise both of our spirits. For Jewlz especially, as they brought their baby so she got a bunch of baby cuddles.

Wounds were re-dressed twice more, after we ate and right before bed. Less leaking through the night, which is a good sign. It's a pretty gnarly looking sight, though. With my weebles, it's worse thinking and writing about it than it is actually cleaning things up. We'll probably re-dress right before we head home. She's got to keep things packed for two weeks for it to heal. After a couple of days we can remove the outer dressing, though. But my weebles are getting the better of me, so that's enough about that. If you're interested in seeing what it looks like, you've been warned, but you can see it here.

Sleep was pretty elusive for both of us - worse for Jewlz, though. She was able to kind of close her eyes and get some rest, but not a lot. We've got a long drive home today, so that's going to be... something. Probably not a lot of fun. It will be good to get home & see the kids, and rest in our own bed.

Done! (for now)

Doctor just left - he said she's just waking up, should be about 30 minutes before she's up. He had to take one of the ear bones out, left the stapes which is more important for hearing. It's possible that she may regain hearing in that ear but we won't know for quite a while (months).

We may write more tonight, or more likely tomorrow.

And she's off!

Well, that was a long wait. 2 hours from the time we got here to the time she's back for surgery. I did not enjoy the tears in her eyes when they stuck her with the IV. I'm already pretty terrible with needles and things, so I enjoyed that one exactly zero.

The surgery should take about 2-3 hours, we were told, hopefully less. Just depends on what things look like when they get in there.

The nurse came in and told us it was time, and gave her some kind of burning sleepy juice in her IV. I gave her a kiss, and they wheeled her off, and I was sent back to a 8x20 room roughly the shape of Utah. Now I'm updating this post, and it's time to wait and wait. The nurse said she'd be back to update me - probably about the time they start on the surgery I guess? I don't really know. So... time to wait.

Checked in!

Trying to remember to breathe sitting here waiting for my name to be called. Thinking I look super funny in my baggy pajamas. I bought a smaller size and they are still too big. Just trying to didtract myself. Heck I just had Wayne walk me through programming this myself. It is really cool I have to admit. Called my babies and told them I loved them and asked how much fun they were having. Who doesn't have the most fun at Grandma's house? This is a different kind of surgery from what I am used to. Usually I'm awake and I get a baby at the end. This time I got a ct scan, echocardiogram, blood draw and a pretty amazing hair cut. All will be well in the end. It's this middle bit that I am not enjoying. Nothing good is ever easy of that I'm sure. But I have all the love and God on my side.Wayne will probably do most of the updating. Thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts. I most definitely feel them. Until next time.

Surgery Tomorrow

Prepping for surgery tomorrow. Jewlz is in high spirits, though surgery is pretty constantly on her mind. She isn't supposed to eat for 12+ hours before surgery, and there's a potential to lose taste for some time, so we've been getting delicious foods. We went to the Greenwood Christmas parade, which was cold and windy, but they had some beans & cornbread that was delicious.

We're supposed to arrive for surgery at 1:30 PM Central Time tomorrow, and the surgery should last 2-4 hours if all goes well. If things end out worse, it could be up to 6 hours. Check back for updates.

Surgery for Jewlz

On December 10th, Jewlz will be having surgery on her ear. She has a cholesteatoma which will need to be removed. Keep checking back for updates.