HOME! Day #3

We brought him home just after lunch time today. He was ready.
The first thing I noticed was not so much his casts, but his hand! The
swelling has gone down and his hand looks all together different. Not
sure why it was still swollen...I thought that was the normal size, but
after today his fingers look more pronounced.
Anyway, he slept a bit on the way home. He rested a bit on his bed. I
noticed the same phenomenon as the last time. I was trying to make
supper (not paying attention to him) and EVERYTHING needed attention. I
left him know that he needs to read a book for 20 minutes so that I can
concentrate on supper. I think I will need to assign one of the
siblings to occupy him in some way, when I need to work.
That is why there is a picture of him playing frisbee with the siblings.
No he didn't catch that one, but he did get a few.

I think he will need quite a bit of occupying in the next 4 weeks.
All in all, though I'm impressed with how well it is going so far...see
if we can sleep tonite.

Day #2

I don't have pictures since dad has the camera, but no way to send them
home....but they tell me that Joe is sporting 2 blue casts that end
before the knees.
That is quite the blessing I'm thinking...less weight and he can bend
his legs.
He called me this evening from his wheelchair outside (playground area)
and was happy to tell me that one of the ministers from church stopped
in this afternoon.
His catheter removal went well and all systems are working OK.
He was only on oral pain meds so it looks like we can bring them home
tomorrow or early Saturday.

His living room bedroom awaits and we managed to install our own
removable shower head. It is time to have everyone under the same roof
again....oh wait I forgot...oldest brother is gone for the weekend...ah
well it is DH that needs to come home.

End of Day #1

I came home this morning and left daddy in charge and took over caring
for 2 grouchy girls.
At least they were good for grandma and saved the grouchies for me.
They even had a slumber party with Grandma, and they all slept in the
living room last night.

They decided not to get Joe out of bed today because of the danger of
dislodging his epidural. The Dr's seemed a bit surprised at how well the
epidural is doing...so we will give the credit to God where it belongs.

Tonite he phoned home and was missing everybody, not just me. Since he
is still in ICU he really can't have other visitors.
Tomorrow around noon, they plan to put him out again and change the
dressings and take out the epidural and the urine catheter then he will
get a regular room.
He is getting an electric scooter instead of a wheelchair... Two new
drivers next week!

AND they implied that he can come home on Friday! I guess that is subjet
to what they see under the bandages tomorrow, but I remain hopeful

Tomorrow we are off to buy a single bed frame for the downstairs, so he
can sleep comfortably in the living room and a sprayer for the
shower....wonder if I will grow more gray hair in the next couple of weeks?

Day #1

He slept really well,, much better than mom.
That epidural helped a LOT!  I'm a little concerned that he is able to move and straighten his L leg, but cannot straighten or move his R leg on his own.  I even tried to help him, but hopefully it is the epidural and PT will help us sort it out today.

So far he seems OK with the smooth blankets down there. The bed looks so flat.

Today he should get to try out the wheel chair and we get to see how that works

Five Hours and Waiting

Actually I'm not at all surprised, they predicted at least an 8 hr surgery. Before he went into surgery the Dr's said they might not even be able to amputate both feet because they were not sure of the blood supply.
We called around 12 and they said they be doing both feet after all.
It remains to be seen  if they can do skin grafting on the arm today.

BTW thanks for the prayers, he did so well this morning and was completely silly after the loopy juice.

Prayers Please!

I CAN'T wait for tomorrow to be over! I know it is not good to wish
your life away, but it is hard to keep this positive note in my voice,
smile when I don't feel like it...

Today he said "my feet look funny, but I like them."

I know , I know....me too...but they make me hurt to look at them.
Everything in me wants to help him to walk straight, a firm confident
stride.
Today he left his prosthesis off for most of the day and insisted his
feet felt better that way....he usually prefers his 'fake' feet, so I
will assume it was the mood.
I was so worried we would have a blow up, but we made it through the
day, I didn't have it in me to insist on too much of anything, so I just
left him to do what ever he wished.
Now tonite after he is asleep, I wish I would have made him run out the
driveway, shoot a couple of baskets, kick the soccer ball...do "this
little piggie" one more time. "If wishes were horses...beggars would ride."

Intellectually, we all know this is the best solution to his feet and I
have to hold on to that.

Yesterday, I printed out Psalm 23 and Psalm 121 for him to memorize. He
would like to be on quiz team one day with his brothers. I told him
these are good verses to start with...today he managed Psalm 23:1-3 "The
Lord is my Shepard (sheffard mom? why shepherd?) I shall not want. He
maketh me to lie down in green pastures, He leadeth me beside still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake."

Yes he can even manage KJV!

So prayer request list:
Calmness for Joseph tomorrow...surgery scheduled for 9 AM
Steady hands for the Dr's and nurses.
That I may forget all the negative possibilities from this type of
surgery..in other words
That mom doesn't worry too much...
The grandma's they are doing tag team for the next few days.
The kids at home. Hope's stomach hurt all day. (worry I think)
Calmness and little pain for the recovery period

Congratulations!

Just a congratulations to the two of you! Signing the papers for a
house and a bridal shower all in the same day!
Now if the rest of the summer would slip smoothly by!
I will be ready for boring again.
Joe's surgery, Ben turning 16, Faith going to first grade, and Demetrius
getting married...ALL IN the space of 4 MONTHS!

Did someone say vali*m? or do I just need to breathe in a paper bag?

Did They Always Fight?

The other evening,I was teaching and missed the conversation, the girls
were having an argument and Joe asked DH, "Did the girls always fight?"
Ray said that when Faith was very young, Hope would tell her what to do
and Faith would listen.
Now since Faith is older, she has her own ideas and does not always like
what Hope is decreeing.
He said "Oh, they looked like such nice girls on the pictures."
Very funny observation, but tonight he put another twist on this.
He asked ME, almost the same question while looking over his photo album.
This time though he said, "Did they fight before I came home?"
I said "yeah, why?"
"I think maybe they just fight since I came home."
I tried to assure him that they would still probably fight, even if he
wasn't here.
Wonder what was behind that question?

Wild Week

This week started off with the 4th of July, was that really only 7 days ago?

DH's family had a small bridal shower for DS and his fiance

Then Tues around 5:30 PM we finally saw Joe wheeled into the OR for a
'short procedure' I was amazed at God's grace, Joe had not been able to
eat since 10 PM the night before, they had stopped all liquid by 11 AM.
He only started complaining about being hungry at 4:30, just as they
called us up to the PACU. He played video games in the waiting room the
entire time. Something that required two hands...do daddy got the one
button piece and when Joe said 'jump' daddy pushed the button. Did I
ever mention that Joe has a very good daddy?
Well the short procedure lasted 3 hrs. I ended up heading home because
we had not prepped the girls for an overnight and I knew that would be a
problem for whomever got the job. The next AM he came home in a bit less
pain than last time and we unwrapped his hand on Fri evening to see a
hand that is taking shape!
I blocked out the 'skin deficit' as we call it.
the first is a before picture...sorry it is turned sideways

Then as we were working on cleaning up his arm we realized that the
girls were very quiet. I went into the living room to find this.

Juggling

Today we went to Sh*iner's for a quick-squeeze-us-in
appointment....Joe's fixator needed a new ring and some
adjustments...well our spot finally came up at 5:30. Before he was
wheeled off the nurses came back and said that we should plan to stay
the night because of his level of pain after surgery last time and that
they will be done so late in the day....
Yes, I totally agreed especially when they told us that some pins might
need replacing.
We decided that I would go home, the girls like when I put them to bed.
Then I got home and glanced at the calendar and realized that I had
forgotten a swimming party for Zeke. I felt so bad...he does not
complain...and I FORGOT!
Hope helped heap guilt on me...she just cried and cried tonite...relief
that I came home? She did say she had a good day out with friends
(thanks Houa) The best we could come up with is that she is a bit
jealous of the attention Joe is getting and wants me to herself for at
least a day....
OK, maybe we can work on this..BUT
How do you balance the needs of the healthy kids when you have one in
the hospital??
I know there are many families with a MUCH bigger mountain...any tips?

Travel Group

 Travel groups - we are people who would never have met- we come from many different walks of life-the only reason we met is because of an appointment we shared in a far away country. God orchestrated our paperwork so that it left our agency at the same time and again when there were four files in the same orphanage.

You hear horror stories about travel groups...

But ours was/is wonderful. We met in each other's homes a few times before we actually had referral and when the big day came.....then we all packed our bags and made that appointment...a little over 5 years ago.  There is something special about becoming parents on the same day. I am so glad our group 'clicked'.
Our families have grown since that day 5 years ago. Some of us have adopted a 2nd (or 3rd) time.  Our girls were all born with in a four week time span. Then came the most recent adoptions....guess what? They were all born in February! two of them on the same day!

Most of my pictures were a blur of missed shots....

 Here we caught some of the kids all in one spot

But here are the four girls that brought our group together.....Wonder if they will still be close at 16?

Sibling Rivlalry- good thing or bad thing?

We hit the public library and I had to stop these two from emptying the
shelf of Arthur chapter books.
They settled on bringing home about 8 of them.
This morning Hope announced that she had finished the second book. I
said "oh OK, good job"
I did not notice the effect on 'slightly older brother' after I
finished his pin care, I gave him one of the few jobs he can do right
now...emptying the dishwasher.
"But what is Hope going to do?!" "She read!"
Suddenly it was very clear...he had only finished one book and she had
two....
They have been frantically reading the rest of the day...if only mom
wouldn't keep giving they jobs!