I have been trying to blog for the last month or so and just couldn't find the time or the words to do so. One month ago today CJ & I were in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic and he was getting ready to undergo surgery that was (still is) totally experimental! The procedure they did (cyroablation) had never been done on the spine before CJ's surgery. While it was a very scary feeling of not knowing how it would go and knowing all of the potential risks we knew we had nothing to lose but everything to gain in doing it. The risk of paralysis were fairly high but we could not and did not let our fear stand in the way of getting him healthy and back to a normal lifestyle.
I am very happy to say that everything went as well as the surgeon had hoped and we had no complications whatsoever! The first night in the hospital was rough with getting his pain under control but the next two days while we were still in Minnesota were wonderful and very few meds were taken. I did have him take his pain killers before we flew home since we didn't know how the pressure would affect him (the flights up were not pretty). We have seen him get his strength and energy back a little bit more each and every day. He is hardly taking his narcotics anymore. I think he has taken them maybe 3 times total since we've been home and twice was within the first few days of being home. He does still have a very weak spine but that will always be the case (he sneezed and fractured a vertebrae). We are remaining positive that this procedure is going to continue to work and he will continue to be almost completely pain free!
He has been cleared to go back to work. We are currently waiting on the letter from the doctor stating that (since he is on disability he has to have a note), so once we receive that my husband will be back to work! It has been a very long 6 1/2 months with him home but the boys have enjoyed each and every minute of it as much as they could. With CJ going back to work (and his schedule changing dramatically within a couple of weeks of his return) everything will once again fall on me. While we are driving each other crazy it has been nice to have help with carpool for half of the school year!! He's been able to go to events at the boys schools that he wouldn't normally get to do.
Christmas was smaller this year for us. The boys still had a wonderful time thanks to a very generous family member. CJ and I skipped doing presents for each other so we could really focus on the boys. Money has definitely been tight thanks to the disability company not doing paperwork in a timely fashion and the Mayo doctor refusing to fill out paperwork but we thankfully had some money in savings (not anymore)! We are looking forward to catching up on bills and things of that nature once he is back at work. We have enjoyed not eating out as much and will continue to do that to save money. Deqlan will not be playing travel ball this spring. He didn't have the chance to work on the skills he needed to or for hitting lessons during the off season. So now we will gear up for rec ball starting in March and go from there. His first love is bowling and that is where we have been able to focus while CJ has been home.
We are already planning our crazy busy summer! We only do a family vacation every other year so we will be home all summer (except maybe a trip to VA to see my aunt and finally take the boys on that train trip I've been promising for two years). Both boys will do swim team again this year and we will be bowling in the youth/adult league one night a week as well. I love keeping the boys busy during the summer and swim team has been an amazing thing for Deqlan to do! Hayden wasn't too sure of it last year but I'm hoping that him doing it again this summer will help him. We spend as much time as possible at the pool so I'm thankful that they either know how to swim or are learning.
I'm looking forward to getting back into blogging again now that life is getting back to "normal"
No comments:
Post a Comment