Challenges

It has been a very challenging week with my husband's long-anticipated (more than 3 years) surgery on Tuesday.  It was a major operation lasting 3 hours with two operation sites and as you see from the photograph, a below-knee cast.  We went through the trauma of a threatened second cancellation due to a bed shortage, followed by a five hour delay, but he finally went in at 1 pm.  

When he eventually reappeared some time after 5.30, he was in good spirits and he insisted on coming home on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after surgery.  Since then it has been a rollercoaster of a journey with two further trips to our local hospital Emergency department, the first on Thursday due to poor pain control and the second this morning due to a possible infection.

To say that it has been exhuasting is an understatement.  He is totally non-weight bearing for about three months.  He has a walker and crutches.  He was unable to transfer safely with the walker, so I had to go to the Red Cross to borrow a wheelchair.  The doorways in our home are too narrow for the chair and the corners too tight, so he is restricted in where he can go.  I don't know how he is going to cope when I return to work on Monday, but he insists that he can manage.

Our neighbours have been wonderful.  Yesterday dawned with an overnight snowfall of about 10 cm and by the time that I had cleared the snow off the deck and the two vehicles, a neighbour arrived to plough our driveway.  Another neighbour came round later to lift the wheelchair out of the van and into the house.  I was so appreciative of their kindness.  

The journey has just begun and the road to recovery is a long one (approximately 6 months), so I may not be around as much as I have been.  With total responsibility for everything at home and a full-time job, I think that I'm going to be very busy.