I'm free!

I got my post-op x-ray yesterday, after 10.5 weeks of recovery.  I have been using a cane and I felt good about my progress, so I was pretty confident the x-ray would look good.  Since I read x-rays, I asked to see my own.  The tech refused, and I was like, "I gotta see it."  Finally, she relented and I had a look.  I said, "See?  No evidence of heterotopic ossification.  It looks good." 

So I emailed my doctor, and I almost told him what my findings were.  But I just said that I was pleased.  He concurred.  So I am free to do full weight-bearing!  Yesssssss!  Eh, I pretty much already knew that.  I'm still a little wobbly, so I might use the cane here and there.  When I ride my bike, though, the leg feels good.  Solid. 

Six minutes

Upon cleaning the van with Heidi, Scott and Kira:

Tyler:  Daddy, can I come inside?  Because the garage is really freaking me out.
Me:  Oh?
Tyler:  Yeah.  It's freaking me out.  So can I come inside a little bit, for six minutes?
Me:  Yes, sir.

Suzuki

Scott has been taking piano lessons for a few months and is doing quite well.  My mom brought me the old Suzuki books from which I studied as a youth, and today, Scott had his first Suzuki lesson with me.  We did "Pepperoni Pizza," as I remember Rick teaching me 28 years ago.  Scott did well and I was pleased.  When we were done, he said with a scowl, "Now can I play with your iPhone?"

This week

Tyler was in the hospital from Sunday to Tuesday night.  The surgery was supposed to be on Friday, but they moved it to Wednesday.  He was on milrinone to give his heart a little rest prior to surgery.  The good news was his echo looked much better this stay than in August when they cancelled his surgery due to his heart function.  So Tony was really pleased with how his increase in meds helped his heart over the past couple of months.

Tyler did pretty good.  His IV's kept failing which was a pain.  I was not on my A game during his first IV attempt when I let two different people poke him before asking for the best.  The resident told me she was confident in herself and would try one more time.  I politely said that I believed her but wanted to know who the best was.  Luckily the charge nurse came in who I LOVE, heard our conversation and immediately got an attending cardiologist and anesthesiologist. They reminded me this was a training hospital and I needed to be firm. My only job in the hospital is to keep Tyler happy so I did a better job throughout our stay with that.

The best part of the stay was ice-cream and chicken nuggets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The first two days we couldn't go to the playroom because he was on ICU status.  It got much better when he went from the intensivist/cardiologist care to just cardiologist care.

I met with the surgeon around 5pm, one last pre-op set of labs were taken at 6:30 and suddenly around 30 minutes later a surgeon came came to tell us something came up with Tony, the lead surgeon and his surgery was cancelled. They felt really bad and we were home by 9pm.

So for now we just wait to hear from UCSF.  We were hoping to be out of the hospital by Christmas so we could go to Utah but now we will have to stay.  We know that the Lord is over this whole plan and have faith that everything will happen in his timing.  Until then, we will really enjoy the time we have with Tyler and our family.

Grammy came out from Utah for the second time to help with the kids during surgery.  While it was an inconvenience for everyone, we made the most of it and all had fun playing with Grammy for the rest of the week. So instead of surgery we went bowling.

A quick stay

Not again

I was all ready for Tyler's surgery tomorrow.  Then Heidi called to say that something came up in the surgeon's life and he couldn't do the surgery.  So the surgery is canceled.  Weh.  Bah.  Phooey.  Daaaaaaaa!  Heidi and Tyler are on their way home.  I am quite disappointed because last time we were all ready, they postponed it.  There have to be good explanations and reasons for all of this but hearing this news agitated me.

I feel like standing up on a soapbox and ranting, but I'm in healthcare too and I don't have all the answers anyway.  I just feel like we're getting a big run-around that's becoming inconvenient.  But I am glad to see Heidi and Tyler again.  Since I can't ride my motorcycle to UCSF, getting out there is a timely deal.  I actually considered getting a collapsible cane, putting it in my backpack and riding the VFR to UCSF.

What would my orthopedic surgeon say?  He'd say no.  Then I'd ask, "What would you do if your kid were in the hospital?"  I'm pretty sure he'd say, "I'd do what I wanted."  Right.  Still, my muscles are weak.  I have had a lot on my mind and I feel like Heidi, the kids and I have done a good job of managing, but now I am unraveling.  Okay.  That's all for now.  Daaaaaaaaa, I could yell!

Surgery is tomorrow

Yes, they have moved Tyler's Fontan from Friday to Wednesday.  I'm glad about this because that means two more days for him to recover before Christmas.  Heck, he may be feeling good for Thanksgiving!  Eh, we'll see.