Major Transitions

Today was our first full day apart and my first day back at work (yeah it’s Saturday). Shawn has been having a tough time with pain and dealing with the nausea caused by the pain meds. Not getting a whole lot of sleep, but I sure did. Shawn had some visits from Dave and Val yesterday and today and got some much needed socialization since I left. Hopefully we can get those chest tubes out soon so we don’t have to deal with all of the pain meds.

It felt good to be back in my own bed after 2 weeks on a hospital pull out. It wasn’t all great though. It was weird having the bed all to myself. Usually I share it with Shawn and Arya, which means I get a tiny sliver of the bed. So you can understand why it wasn’t a perfect nights sleep. The house is lonely, and not very hospitable with the mountain of boxes in the living room. 

Both of us are missing the dogs and Carson and Madison have dropped the ball with updates. I have gotten a few snaps and apparently they don’t do well with thunderstorms. Looking forward to seeing them again soon.

Westward Bound

​Today is bittersweet as I head back to Salt Lake City and leave Shawn behind to continue his healing process. We are both sad to have to be apart, especially when we had so many plans for the next month and a half including concerts, hikes with the dogs, and a few days to experience some of the tourist side of SLC we hadn’t had the chance to see. Now we face this month an a half apart on opposite sides of the country. Shawn struggling to regain his strength and fight this infection. Myself struggling to meet all of my residency requirements and pack up to move cross country.

I don’t like to use this blog to vent, but this is a tough day for us, and the next few weeks are going to continue to be difficult. To everyone who continue to tell us that “if this had to happen, the timing couldn’t be more convenient for you,” you are horribly wrong, and your words are causing undue stress and anguish. To be honest, no time would be a convenient time, and this timing is actually very very far from convenient. Easier for Shawn because he gets out of moving? Do you really think any of this is easy for Shawn or that he wants me to have to do it alone? Sorry to go on a rant, but please be considerate in your choices of words. We are trying to keep this whole process as positive as we can and don’t need people unintentionally bringing us down.​

In terms of how Shawn is doing from a medical perspective, things are going well. Still struggling with pain and nausea, but we knew this wouldn’t be as easy as the last time. It’s time to stay positive and keep moving forward with our lives. Hopefully Shawn will be out of the hospital soon, but no need to rush, he will get out when he’s fully ready to be at home.​

Still missing our kiddos and the new baby we have yet to meet. Looking forward to seeing them all in July.​

Cheers To 3 Years

I can’t believe it’s here already. If you’d asked me where I thought we would be spending our third wedding anniversary 3 weeks ago, I would have said Log Haven. Never in my wildest imagination would I have seen us here, confined to a hospital room. But here we are. Life sure is full of surprises. I know, you can probably sense a little bitterness, but you would be feeling it too if you were in our shoes. 

On the other hand, we have so much to celebrate. In the 3 years we’ve been married we’ve been to 9 different countries, lived in 3 states (including Ohio due to Shawn’s premature move), welcomed another fur baby into our lives, finished residency (almost) and had two valve replacements.  We’ve nailed our Halloween costumes repeatedly, and thrown some excellent parties, including Shawn’s 1930’s surprise 30th birthday bash.

It has been a wild 3 years filled with surprises, accomplishments, excitement, disappointments, and loss of loved ones. Are there things we would do differently? Absolutely, but anyone would be lying if they said otherwise. We are looking forward to starting fresh in Cleveland and seeing what adventures the future has in store for us.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Today was another busy day. Lots of visitors. All morning we had providers, lab techs, XRay techs, and even home health reps popping in. One even brought us a goody bag full of snacks! Shawn was pretty tachy overnight so the team ordered a couple EKGs and found he was popping in and out of AFib so he got started on an amiodarone drip. Shortly after he was back in sinus rhythm. One of my least favorite drugs, but when you need it, you need it. At least we don’t have to worry about his warfarin anymore.​

We had another loss of lunch this afternoon. Maybe tomorrow we will order something a little simpler for lunch. After all of the hub bub of the morning, Shawn was pretty wiped out. He took more naps than I’d care to count. We didn’t make it to the end of the long hallway as we’d hoped. We actually didn’t get much walking in today because he was so exhausted. On a positive note, Shawn finally felt the thunder from down under and got one step closer to discharge.​

We’ve been so blessed to have the love and support of our friends and family throughout this ordeal. Today we had a mysterious package arrive at the hospital. It was a beautiful tower of goodies we are looking forward to digging into tomorrow when Shawn is more up to the task. Thank you so much to the Spellman’s for thinking of us (and our bellies).​

Taking It In Strides

​Today we got Shawn up and walking! Baby steps, just a few quicks to the end of the hall or the nutrition room for Jell-O. Hoping to tackle the long hallway tomorrow.

We had a rougher afternoon with some tough pain management and a little nausea. Only one resulted in the loss of lunch...

Logan and the girls are doing well. I had a little time this afternoon to talk to Austin and Dylan about how excited they are to have another girl in the family. Dying a little inside because I can’t be there to share in the joy.​

And I would be remiss if I didn’t let you know how our babies are doing. Carson and Dylan found a fun new game called “messing with Arya.” Just kidding, they didn’t name it, but that’s what they’ve been up to. See the photos for their latest work. Clearly she sleeps pretty soundly, even with 2 year olds covering her in toys.​