We Survived
The surgery was a complete success - Hallelujah! For many of you reading this site, you might not even be aware of what surgery I'm referring to. About a year ago, Steve's mom was diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm - dangerous, right? Well, at the time, the MRI showed that the size of the aneurysm was just below the size that would warrant surgery. That was both good and bad news. It was good that she wasn't going to need emergency heart surgery, but at the same time we've been living under the cloud of a possible ruptured aneurysm. This all changed this past Spring when they did another MRI and discovered the aneurysm grew larger and was indeed large enough to require surgery. Yikes! So for the past 6 months the whole family (and there are a lot of us) has been preparing for the inevitable. After meeting with one of the surgeons performing the operation (Steve's mom had two experienced surgeons - that was very good news) and deciding that Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh was the hospital for her, the surgery was scheduled for October 22nd. We all thought it would be a lot sooner than that, the risk of rupture being so high, but I suppose since her surgery was such an unusual procedure (and I won't go into the whole thing, it was a valve replacement surgery which is not common) they wanted to be well-prepared. So, the 22nd it is. But unfortunately, the surgery had to be postponed until the 24th due to an infection. It stunk that we had to wait 2 more days, but it was nice for Steve to have those two extra days with his mom before the surgery. And as I've already written at the top of this blog - the surgery was a great success and at this time, Steve is home with us and his mom is recovering beautifully. The doctors had her up out of bed on the day following the procedure . . . that is just amazing. As for us, the boys and I had a great week. After dropping Steve off at the airport, the three of us drove to Manchester, NH to visit two ni
ghts with my childhood friend, Karen and her husband, Rob. The boys really enjoy spending time with them and they are soooo good with our kids. I'd like to say it was completely relaxing visit for me, but as usual, sleep was a huge issue - which was too bad because their guest bed was really comfortable. While in Manchester we were able to visit with my friends from college, Shawn and Theresa Rouillard (whose blog about their kids was the inspiration for this one.) They have three children, Jamie 4 1/2, Clare 2 1/2, and Simon 5 months old and only lived 10 minutes from Karen's so it was really convenient getting together. Wesley and Jaime seemed like old friends from the minute we walked through the door. And Preston had a wonderful time exploring their house and all the toys. They treated us to pizza for dinner and then after getting the boys into their pjs, Shawn read them some bedtime stories. We had such a
nice time and know that we'll head back there very soon. On Saturday we drove to Winslow for Wesley's friend, Brooklyn's birthday party and we spent the night with Yaya and Papa. Sunday, we drove home in the afternoon and Yaya came for the day to help me out so I could do a little cleaning. That is where we hit our first hiccup of the week. Minutes before my mom was preparing to head home, Wesley started throwing up and unfortunately it was on the living room rug. I was so happy my mom was there because I don't know how I would have handled comforting Wesley, keeping Preston away, and cleaning up the mess without her help. So thank you, Mom! The rest of the afternoon was a wash. Wesley fell asleep on the couch for about an hour after that, threw up two more times that evening (thankfully in a bucket) and I let him fall asleep that night on the couch so that I could monitor him. Luckily, that was it. Minor crisis averted. I, of course, was so afraid that Preston and I would be hit with the same thing, but that wasn't the case. Instead, the next day, Preston developed a little cold the next day and is still dealing with the sniffles even now. Miss Karen came for a visit on Monday and kept us company until Wednesday. Wednesday night, as you've already read, I went to Parent Night at Wesley's preschool so the boys had a babysitter. Then after preschool on Thursday, we headed back to Winslow for two nights until we picked up Steve at the airport this morning. We were so excited to have him back and the boys clung right to him upon his arrival. It is such a relief that it is all over, the surgery, the trip, and my week as a "single parent." I am so fortunate to have such a loving, wonderful husband and I'm so glad that he doesn't have to travel for work because it is so nice to have him here each night. It was nice to know that in his absence, I was able to handle things, but it is even nicer having him home.
ghts with my childhood friend, Karen and her husband, Rob. The boys really enjoy spending time with them and they are soooo good with our kids. I'd like to say it was completely relaxing visit for me, but as usual, sleep was a huge issue - which was too bad because their guest bed was really comfortable. While in Manchester we were able to visit with my friends from college, Shawn and Theresa Rouillard (whose blog about their kids was the inspiration for this one.) They have three children, Jamie 4 1/2, Clare 2 1/2, and Simon 5 months old and only lived 10 minutes from Karen's so it was really convenient getting together. Wesley and Jaime seemed like old friends from the minute we walked through the door. And Preston had a wonderful time exploring their house and all the toys. They treated us to pizza for dinner and then after getting the boys into their pjs, Shawn read them some bedtime stories. We had such a
nice time and know that we'll head back there very soon. On Saturday we drove to Winslow for Wesley's friend, Brooklyn's birthday party and we spent the night with Yaya and Papa. Sunday, we drove home in the afternoon and Yaya came for the day to help me out so I could do a little cleaning. That is where we hit our first hiccup of the week. Minutes before my mom was preparing to head home, Wesley started throwing up and unfortunately it was on the living room rug. I was so happy my mom was there because I don't know how I would have handled comforting Wesley, keeping Preston away, and cleaning up the mess without her help. So thank you, Mom! The rest of the afternoon was a wash. Wesley fell asleep on the couch for about an hour after that, threw up two more times that evening (thankfully in a bucket) and I let him fall asleep that night on the couch so that I could monitor him. Luckily, that was it. Minor crisis averted. I, of course, was so afraid that Preston and I would be hit with the same thing, but that wasn't the case. Instead, the next day, Preston developed a little cold the next day and is still dealing with the sniffles even now. Miss Karen came for a visit on Monday and kept us company until Wednesday. Wednesday night, as you've already read, I went to Parent Night at Wesley's preschool so the boys had a babysitter. Then after preschool on Thursday, we headed back to Winslow for two nights until we picked up Steve at the airport this morning. We were so excited to have him back and the boys clung right to him upon his arrival. It is such a relief that it is all over, the surgery, the trip, and my week as a "single parent." I am so fortunate to have such a loving, wonderful husband and I'm so glad that he doesn't have to travel for work because it is so nice to have him here each night. It was nice to know that in his absence, I was able to handle things, but it is even nicer having him home.
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