Wednesday, September 23, 2009

2.5 weeks at home

Getting better and stronger every day. I walked 2 (two!) blocks around the neighborhood. And these are BIG blocks. Later I was in the backyard and fell down. Oops. The grass was soft, but it reminded me to be careful!

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Home Sweet Home

The flight home was relatively uneventful and we're back home in Charleston!!!! Got in around 10:30 PM and my brother picked us up. Mom was in the car too. When we got home, everything appeared in order and the dogs were VERY happy to see us. Played with the dogs some, took a shower and went to bed. Both of us slept very soundly. No street/city noises going on all night - very peaceful. Since I slept all night, I missed my 3 AM pain pill dose. At 9:00 AM I sure could notice it! The right leg (where they harvested the muscle) is still pretty sore. We'll get hooked up with the pain management guys at MUSC to work out a plan. I'm sure it will get better over the next couple months. Still a little unsteady walking as well, but I'm sure that will get better too. Anyone know of any good exercises for someone missing a rectus femoris? We'll figure out a way to do some "easy" squats and work up from there. HAPPY TO BE HOME!!!!

THANK YOU to everyone that has posted and supported us through this ordeal. Reading the blog posts, getting emails and knowing you guys are out there thinking & praying for us has been an amazing source of strength for us. It has truly helped my recovery and means so much to Sheila and I.

FYI - We'll keep posting here occasionally, but don't expect any more daily updates!

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Almost there

In the plane now about to takeoff! Yay,yay,yay!

airport

Made it to the airport. Sheila's dropping off the rental car and then
we do the stupid human tricks... I wonder what they will think of the
plastic container hooked up to a tube in my knee. I'm pretty sure it's
too much blood to carry on. We will see... That's not including any
fluid taped to my belly either. Both bags are pretty empty now, but I
have been drinking a lot of water.

On the way

It's sort of early but we haeding to the airport. Yay!

Operation: escape Houston - part 2

We got to the bookstore just fine. After about 30 minutes of browising
I noticed the the urostomy seal had broken. Dang! Those things are
supposed to last 5 days or so and it had only been 2. Fortunately we
had our "emergency backup" equipment handy and after 20 minutes of
cleanup, I had the new appliance on. A quick trip to TJ Maxx for new
shorts and we were back in business

Operation: Escape Houston

OK. We are all checked out of the hotel. Check. We got our flights
arranged for 7-ish tonight. We need to kill some time before then.
There's a bookstore nearby that should be a good hangout...
Last night we had sushi at our favorite restaurant. Walking to the car,
the pavement was uneven and my leg "blew out" and I fell down. Ouch.
Fortunately it was a relatively "controlled" fall and I didn't bash
anything too hard. I did bend my leg and it's a bit more swollen today
but it appears I can still walk on it. Got to be careful while my leg
muscles are still learning to compensate for the lack of the one they
took out. Charleston, here we come!

Friday, September 4, 2009

dern airlines

We will be coming home tomorrow. Although there are six seats available tonight, Continental could not change our reservations without a 400.00 fee. I bought my ticket 3 weeks before Mark bought his, as we initially planned for him to drive. His condition worsened to the point that we bought his ticket about a week before he left. His ticket was 415.00; mine was 385.00. This put me in the "W" class and him in the "H" class, whatever the hell that means. So, since I don't have the same class, I would have to pay an extra 400 bucks. As much money as we have been going through, we can't afford that.
So, one more night in Houston. I really can't bitch because Mark has done so well. It's disappointing, but not the end of the world. Trouble, Einstein-we'll see you tomorrow.

MD visit

The doctor's visit this morning/afternoon went fine. Dr. Skibber gave us the okay to return to Charleston! Yay! We have to come back in one month for a follow-up and to remove the last of Mark's stitches that stay in 6 weeks, but everyone in the clinic was thrilled with Mark's progress. The plastics people removed one of the drains in his leg, so there is only one left. That will probably have to stay a while, because there is still significant output. But, overall, we are very pleased. Next step: getting on a plane. The flight tonight is "sold out" although there are some seats available. Sorta. The seats available are "premium" seats that we can't exchange our tickets for. The travel agent at Anderson encouraged us to call Continental this afternoon and see if they have released those seats. If so, we come home tonight. We do have reservations on tomorrow night's flight, so worst possible case we'll be in our beds tomorrow night. I really, really, really want to come home tonight. It will depend on airline logic, so anything goes. We'll post again this afternoon to let everyone knows how this goes. Family in Charleston----we may be looking for a ride tonight; we'll call you later.

No news is good news

Sorry about the lack of info the last two days. We've been in the
hotel, using the treadmill for exercise and resting. Yesterday, we did
a trip to the mall and both got a haircut. Then dinner at PF Changs.
Right now we are in the dr.'s office waiting for Skibber to arrive.
He'll have the final say on when he thinks we're ready to come home...

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Progress

The hotel has a treadmill in the gym downstairs that I have been using
for leg rehab. I walked over a half mile today! Yay!