Week 15

First, thanks to all of you for your prayers, emails, cards, donations, gifts, etc. in regards to Brad's mom. Everything went very smoothly, and Brad is doing as well as can be expected. He handled everything so well, and made every decision by asking himself "What would mom want?" Right now there is more relief that Carolyn is finally at peace; hopefully with her husband, able to walk and see, and greeting all of those who went before her and looking over all of us she left behind. She suffered greatly in her final days, and none of us wanted that. We are grateful for all who attended the visitation and funeral, and I want to thank my Grimm family for all that they did - including sending a family "representative" - and for their wonderful words and support. I did finally meet Brad's brother for the first time, and my niece and nephew...who are 3-1/2 year old twins and absolutely adorable. I also had the opportunity to meet additional members of Brad's family, and finally went to the tavern his parents owned back in the 80's for the first time.

The last few weeks have been anything but normal. It's now been 15 weeks since my surgery, and the big question I'm asked after "How is Brad doing?" is how am I doing. With all of the driving, flying, hotel stays, pulling/lifting luggage and physical activity, I held up pretty well. If this had all happened before my surgery in December, I wouldn't have lasted a day. While I was sore, stiff and ready to go home near the end, I survived ok. I'm still sore and worse off than I was before all of this, but I've had much worse days. I was happy with my abilities these last couple of weeks.

I had to postpone my physical therapy by two weeks, so I had my first session last Friday. Though I was there an hour, it was mostly just an assessment, discussion of what I would like to accomplish, and an introduction to the staff. There are only a few individuals there, but they are seasoned professionals. The place I went to back in 2005 was mostly filled with students-in-training, and that was a mess. Though this place does not have before/after work hours, these people know what they are doing and the facilities are great. It sounds like I will mostly be working with the owner, and I'm looking forward to really getting into things.

This has been a most unusual year and month. I have follow-up appointments with my hand surgeon and spine surgeon, but plan on pushing them back a few weeks given what has transpired. I would like a chance to see how I handle PT before I have follow-up appointments, especially with my spine surgeon. Driving to Maryland and back is time consuming and costs money, and I want to make sure I can get the most benefit from the trip as possible. I also need to reschedule my appointment with my primary care physician, as I need to see where my counts are at. I've been feeling very tired lately (more than usual and beyond my control), and I'm wondering if my thyroid is low.

So what's in store for us now? I think the biggest thing is just trying to get back into a normal life. We're both behind in our jobs, and Brad has a bit of catching up to do in his classes. We need to get back into a regular schedule; I need to work on getting healthier and feeling better, and we'd like to start some home remodeling projects that have been on our mind for some time. We need to save some money; the last few months have been expensive. We'd like to go on some mini-vacations over the summer, including going to Cape Cod to see my brother as he is doing lighting design for several theatre productions there over the summer. I think overall we just hope for some reasonably peaceful months ahead. Just a little break from everything, time to mentally adjust to all of the changes, and most importantly...quality time with each other and those we care most about.