Homecoming

Before going home, Melissa visited him at the hospital and I just had to put this up because I think she's so beautiful!!

Here's what greeted Dad when he arrived, Darrens handmade "Welcome Home" sign hanging on the ramp and some yellow bows and balloons.

The ambulance drove him almost right up to the ramp and wheeled him in.

Being pulled up the new ramp in the stretcher.

Darren is volunteering at the hospital this summer and has been in the physical therapy department a lot helping out. During this time, he's been picking up tricks he can use with Dad so here he is working his leg muscles. Doesn't he look like a professional in his scrubs???

I talked to Dad yesterday and he said that Melissa is really going above and beyond to help him and Mom. Here she is massaging and working Dad's leg muscles. She's been so helpful, making runs to get Dad what he needs and cooking breakfast. She's a worker bee, that's for sure.

Like father, like son. ;)

Welcome home Dad!!! (sign made by Melissa)

Finally... HOME!!!

Yesterday Dad and Mom got the break they've been looking for and they made their way home. Dad had to ride in an ambulance because of his legs, so Mom led the way in her car and the ambulance followed behind. My brother and sister had put up balloons and signs welcoming Dad home and he had a good meal last night for dinner. It's such a relief for everyone to have him home. And he got to use the new ramp for the first time built by the guys at Sanford Contractors. He loved it!!

I would like to take a quick moment to say that we really appreciate all the cards, phone calls and visits from everyone while Dad was at the hospital. It has done wonders for his spirits to know that he has so many folks cheering him on. Since he'll be home now, we know he will have even more friends and family visiting daily which is wonderful. At the same time, it would be helpful to everyone if these visits were kept brief since we want to make sure he has time to rest and recover.

Again, thank you all for everything, I promise I will put pictures up of his homecoming as soon as I get them from Mom!

Things are looking up...

I just talked to mom on the phone and she said that Dad is improving. He got rid of his IV, drainage tubes and oxygen this morning. He's sitting up at an incline now and is on a liquid diet. Mom said he had some jello this morning for breakfast and before we left last night, he had some jello and cherry italian ice.

The vascular team came in and removed the 14 staples in Dad's right leg (on the left side where they took the vein from). Now that the staples are gone, he doesn't have to wear the ace bandage wrapped around his right leg so that is one step closer to having his wounds heal!

Of course we're not getting too excited (yet) but the word is that he may be able to go home tomorrow. They did an x-ray on his back to see how well his surgery helped to create the natural curve in his spine and if that comes back well, then he will be home bound. Things are looking up so keep the prayers a coming!

Surgery is over, and here's some pics

Dad had a slew of visitors on Wednesday, the initial day he was supposed to have surgery. Here's some of them above.

Dad's coworkers from Sanford Contractors came by. From left to right, they are Richard, Randall, Mark and Brent. Thanks guys for coming by so much, it really helps his spirits!

Out of surgery: Surgery took about 6 hours. We waited and waited for the doctor to come out. Finally he came out said that they took a small piece of bone from his left hip and placed it in his vertebrae with cement and screws to make that natural curve in his spine. He will have to lay flat on his back for 48 hours and will have a scar about 4 inches long on his back. He's got an IV, back on oxygen and is resting quietly. He's halfway through but the next 24 hours will be long, I'm sure but so far he's been resting a lot which is good. Here's dad and I getting some rest...

We're not sure when he'll be coming home, but we're hoping it's soon. A big thank you to all of those who have sent cards in the last week... I bet we got over 25 in the past few days!

Surgery Update

It's 12:39 pm on Friday and Dad's still in surgery as far as we know. We arrived at 10:45 am and mom said that Dad had gone back for surgery at about 8 am. We're hanging around in the waiting room with a wheelchair full of stuff because we're not sure what room he'll be moved to next.

They had to put electrodes on his head to monitor his brain waves because they are going to be close to his spinal cord. I really hope to get a picture of this so that I can show it to him later on. He'll be so mad that they messed up his hair!

I'll update this once he's out of surgery, but until then, we'll be sitting here waiting...

FRIDAY - Surgery Day

Tommorow, Dad will undergo surgery on his back to help fix his crushed L3 vertebrae. Dad explained it to me saying that a healthy back is curved and his back is currently straight. If his back isn't corrected by surgery, he will lean forward for the rest of his life and that will lead to arthritis and other problems. The doctors recommended taking care of this as soon as possible so tomorrow at 7:30 am, he will go in. The surgery will last 2 1/2 to 3 hours and then he will have a scar that's about four inches long. They said that he may be able to come home in 2-3 days so that's a positive. I'll update this as soon as I know the outcome of his surgery, but please think good thoughts and keep praying!!

Oh, and a big "THANK YOU" to the folks from Sanford Contractors that finished the ramp today. You guys are amazing and we can't wait to get home and put it to good use!!

UPDATE: Dad's surgery was postponed on Wednesday and we're told it will be FOR SURE Friday at 7:30 am. We're not sure why he got "bumped" but he's ready to get this surgery over!

The world's best nurses, hospital bed & ramp

Here's what's been going on lately in no particular order:

Nurses make the world go round: Meet Edgar, Dad's favorite day shift nurse. Ironically, Edgar is one of the nurses that took care of my aunt Emily when she was in the rehab wing at UNC hospital several years ago. Uncle Dale was visiting when Edgar came in one day and they instantly recognized each other. Small world. Edgar even asked for dad's telephone number and address so that when he takes his kids to the NC Zoo, he can stop in and check up on dad. How nice is that?!?

Kathy is Dad's favorite day shift nurse. From what I hear, she's very attentive.

Cards: Dad has received so many cards from so many people that mom decided it was time to show them off. Luckily, my cousin Carson came to the rescue. He and his grandpa Donny taped the cards to the door.

Here they are sharing a box of chocolates. The doors are full, but that doesn't mean he doesn't need more cards... when he goes home, he'll need even more cards to decorate with.


I think mom said that he had over 70 cards... wow!

Playing a tune: Dad's boss Randall came for a visit and found a baby grand piano on the rehab floor. So he entertained mom and dad for a while. At their wedding, they had the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water" played. At our wedding, we had the pianist play it in honor of them and it's become a special song for us all. Randall played "Bridge Over Troubled Water" on the baby grand and mom called us so that we could enjoy.

It sounded wonderful, Randall!

Getting ready: Mom went home today to get the house ready for Dad's arrival. They delivered the hospital bed (seen here), the wheel chair, the bed table, and the triangular bar without the trapeze bar.

The bed he's been using at the hospital is an air mattress. It will periodically inflate and deflate itself to contour toward his body. This is great because it prevents bed sores. We were lucky enough to get an air mattress for the house so it is nice!

Men at Work: The men from Sanford Contractor's came out today to begin working on the ramp in the front of the house. Our Uncle Butch LOVED this and spent the day supervising and I'm sure swapping old car stories.

Above is Ken who has spearheaded the ramp project. Keep in mind, it was 94 degrees today and they were out in the hot sun and never once complained.

Uncle Butch is above in the blue. He and his wife have been such a blessing to us lately. They will go and stay with Dad when Mom goes home and allow her to take little breaks during the week that do her a lot of good. A big hats off to them!

We're still expecting Dad to go home on Wednesday so we'll update with more pictures then...