Sunday, October 26, 2014

Another surgery

 Since we were busy doing the Thompson reunion on my birthday, Scott took me out a couple weeks later.  It was the night before his femur surgery.  I think he was nervous and wanted distraction.  But either way, I'm glad we went out.  He took me to a very nice, expensive Italian restaurant and we went to the planetarium and watched a U2 laser show.  Brought back memories of high school and how young we were way back when.  

 Scott walking on Mars.

 His leg after surgery.  It was so swollen and sad.

Recovering.  This picture reminds me so much of him when we were in high school.  He used to sleep like this all the time.  And with that exact blanket.

As an update, we went to the doctor about a week after our celebration of getting off pain meds and found out he would need another surgery.  The bone in his femur wasn't growing back like it needed, and so he had to have a new rod put in.  He went into the hospital on September 12th, one day shy of his one year anniversary since the accident.  We had been trying to come up with something to do on the anniversary, but that wasn't quite what we had in mind.  The doctor said it would be quick and he should be on crutches for a couple weeks and then walking on his own. Well, it was very painful and almost 6 weeks later he is still on crutches.  When we got home from the hospital it took us 1/2 hour to get him out of the car and up the stairs into the house.  When he made it to bed he didn't move for a week.  He started going to work a week later but it was very hard for him to move his hip.  He was using the walker again for a couple weeks and then moved to crutches.  
This has been hard for both of us.  He was anticipating getting back to regular activity but instead has been in so much pain.  He can't put weight on his leg yet.  The doctor tried a newer method where they don't put screws in the top of the rod and leave a gap between the rod and the top of his bone so that it will move up and down and try to create more bone growth through stimulation.  The couple times he has stepped on it has been excruciating.  
While he has been more patient than I'm sure I could be, it was been hard on both of us.  He is tired, grouchy and hurting.  I hate to see him in pain, and carrying the weight of taking care of the kids and house and everything by myself is hard.  I don't know how I did it a year ago when he needed a lot more help.  I don't think the kids were as busy, though, and I started a new job working a lot more hours.  But I have been so exhausted and sometimes feel so alone.  I know he does, too.  But he is slowly getting better and I know that we will make it through.  I am grateful that he is still here to share everything with, even the hard times. 

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