Transitioning

      Today there is nothing much to report.  No doctors rounds at 6:30 or nurses rounds at 7:30 to wake us up.   Adapting to sleeping at home wasn't the smoothest transition, and Chris's entire body aches and has battle scars from his extended visit at the hospital, but one thing is for certain... it was a better nights rest than any we have had in quite some time.  Our day today was one of recovery, with a little bit of real life mixed in.

      When I was talking with someone recently, I explained how I felt that so many things in my life had prepared me for the difficulties of the past few weeks.   One such thing was my journal writing.  Those close to me know that I have written in my journal every single day since I was a young woman.   While sitting in the waiting room on the 2nd day in the hospital, waiting for the results of surgery I was at peace being alone with my thoughts and a journal to write in.   Two years ago leading up to Chris's 1st surgery, the one to remove the tumor,  I was terrified to be alone in case things went wrong.  I ended up not being alone and things were fine.   This time, I was physically alone, and things did go wrong, and I was OK.

      In hindsight there were many small blessings that night.  Because his surgery was so late in the day,  I was the only one in the waiting room and he the only one in recovery.  Because of this they allowed me to see him in recovery instead of waiting until he returned to his room.  Being able to see him and be there with him, even when things were going horribly wrong was so much better to me than sitting...waiting... wondering.   As well, nowhere at the back of my mind was worry about anyone but Chris.  No one in the waiting room that I needed to update or tell we were going to ICU. Help for me, in the form of others to help me bear the difficult load, did come later.   But at the times when it was most needed, there was another there to help me.

     Back home, it will take a while for us to re-establish our new normal.  A ton of new equipment came yesterday and today that we are learning how to use.   Simple tasks take more care and time and there are additional new tasks that are not yet routine.   I'll still update this blog as there are things to update, but for now I'll return to my personal journal writing.   Thank-you everyone so much for your concern, love and prayers.

    Speaking right now for Chris is very difficult, and I've kept my phone on silent for now, so I usually miss phone calls, but feel free to reach out and contact us by text, e-mail or Facebook.  Not being able to speak has been a difficult change, so he would actually love to still be able to communicate with others, don't hesitate to reach out to him.