Surgerical Recap

It seemed like a huge fight to get this surgery to the point of approval--and in the end it happened just when we thought it would originally. Thankfully, Buck is thinking ahead and figuring out all the loopholes and questions to ask. His diligence and a lot of prayers from friends and family made this happen when we hoped it would happen. 

Another hiccup we're working on--the supplementary insurance thought his leave ended yesterday--ummm, nope, you're about two months short on that. Yikes! That section of stress is still in the process of being smoothed out, but we're getting there.

So, while he's been home and waiting for surgery to happen, Buck has been keeping himself busy personalizing a cane. Now, the cane itself is meant to prod hogs at the county fair, but it works just fine for his purposes too :) More detailed pics are below.



Surgery day: We were up before seven and at the hospital not much later . . . I thought their bear-themed apparel and surgical gear was pretty cute--right up Graysen's alley! We watched some Sports Center, visited with a never-ending stream of doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, pre-op, post-op, whew! So many people to trust after a quick greeting.



Eventually, it was my turn to hit the road, so off to the waiting room I went. They said the procedure would take about two hours, the doctor would come talk to me, and then I could see Buck an hour after that. I will say, the hospital was very nice, very clean, very thoughtful. When he took longer than planned waking up from anesthesia (and I was getting shaky from the wait), the receptionist told me lunch was being served upstairs. I found this veggie-filled lentil soup, bread, sweet potatoes, and chicken (I skipped the chicken, because I was in a rush to get back to the waiting room). 



They called back and reported that Buck was being woken up, and I could see him shortly--this was about 1.5 hours after I'd talked to the doctor. Buck was wide awake and sitting in a chair, which is waaaaaay better than when they let me see him right after neck surgery. He was pretty groggy and not very comfortable, but he was alert and his color looked good (neck surgery--very pale). I guess they let the nurses see that phase and the family the more colorful phase :)

I think we were there another hour or so as they adjusted his pain meds and fed him a little something (wheat toast, and he couldn't refuse it :) Home we went to the kids by mid-afternoon, and awaited our church to deliver us some food. I didn't think we needed this extra attention, but Buck wanted to let the church love and serve us, so I agreed. The kids were thrilled with lasagna, breadsticks, salad, and cookies. It was nice to not have to worry about meals for a couple of days.



I should have switched these pics around--the promised close-ups of the cane Buck carved. The inset at the front is a dollar coin (a "buck" :) Below that is a cross he received after helping with 9-11. The arrow is from  his grandmother's collection, and the nickel is silver--super tricky! 



Our second night's meal from the church--roast and potatoes and carrots, rolls and two desserts. The kids were over the moon :)



Two days later, mom and dad came to visit us. The kids showed off their musical talents, I showed off the farm, and Buck had his first trip out of the house to get dinner at a local restaurant.

The first days were rough, with searing nerve pain (G$ and I took a bonus trip to the pharmacy to pick up three more prescriptions). In the following days, the nerve pain backed down and Buck started moving more comfortably. Sleeping the first night was really rough, but the subsequent nights, he's been able to find a way to sleep well (with alarms set for middle of the night meds). We've pretty much taken everything off our schedule for the past week--and that will likely extend some--until he's more mobile. Little trips to the library or the store are mental health helps, but require extended afternoon naps to balance. Overall, we're doing well. Glad that the surgery is over and the healing process is underway :)