Home

Like the best flight you've ever had - the first day home was uneventful. It was great to have him home but I'll admit I was a little concerned about whether or not I was prepared to care for him. Even though, if you saw him, he seems pretty normal - I know he's weak, fatigued, very sore and learning about the way his body now works, which can be a little scary when you don't know what to expect.

I worried for a couple of days about the dogs. They were so anxious to see him, I was concerned about them jumping up (well, actually, only Bogey - Sable jumps in place when she's excited but she never puts her paws on you). The first few minutes there was a lot of "No!" and "Off!" and Steve sheilded his abdomen but standing up against a chair. But once they calmed down, they were happy just to have him pet them and then all was well.

Steve was able to walk up the stairs last night to sleep in our room, instead of staying on the main floor and sleeping on the sofa as we first thought might be necessary. He slept well and, even though it was so good to have him back home, back next to me and to hold his hand, i didn't sleep that well. I just kept listening - to his breathing, to the new sounds of his body. This morning, I had to give him an injection - a blood thinner to prevent clots that you are more susceptible to after abdominal surgery. I was nervous about doing it, but because it's a subcutaneous injection, you almost can't miss. We have 9 more of those to go. By that time, I'll be ready for nursing school. Well, that may be a slight overstatement.

On Thursday afternoon, a home health nurse came by and took vitals, looked at his incision, offered advice on diet to get his bowel going - like warm prune juice (ummm, ummm, good!).
Sandra Brockman and Carlotta Bell, from work, came by with a car load of food from Steve Brandt, my boss. That was very thoughtful and will make it easier for me at least for the next couple of days. Especially nice was the Brick Street Carrot Cake!

We had a visit as well from Gerry Riley who came by to mow our grass. This is above and beyond the call, but he insisted that we not go out and hire someone to do as had been our plan. Gerry's a good friend and we really appreciate the help.

With Steve safely resting on the sofa, I went to the store and then stopped by at a local frame store run by a friend of ours whose husband had bladder cancer and just last month had surgery. We shared our stoma stories and quickly became a support group of two.

Some of you have asked if I'm taking this blog down and actually I'm planning on continuing to post to it for a while. We've still got some steps to take down the road to recovery and even if you guys stop reading, in some ways this is a good catharsis for me.

So I'll keep posting. Your comments are always appreciated. Steve has enjoyed reading them and it's made us both realize how important our friends and family are. Besides that, it's good computer practice for him!