- Joined
- May 29, 2014
- Messages
- 1,013
- Reason
- Lost a loved one
- Diagnosis
- 04/2014
- Country
- US
- State
- VA
- City
- Poquoson
For better or for worse...
So much of love and life is echoed within those words. I first pledged to them in marriage but find they are also much a part of every day living. In fact, I'm about to embark on another "for better or for worse" chain of events.
I've scheduled back surgery for November 12th. This surgery is for a degenerative spondylolisthesis and a degenerative disk that have become increasingly painful and which are affecting my ability for the physical part of care-giving (and most anything else). The surgery consists of two parts - a laminectomy (a decompression) and a spinal fusion (with pedicle screws and titanium rods). It will be a 6 hour surgery with 2 - 4 days stay in the hospital... 3 weeks of pain before it begins to subside... and 8-12 weeks minimum before I can lift anything of merit.
Gina, who already provides care-giving assistance for Darcey 3 days a week, will be here on a nearly full-time basis. She'll get Darcey up in the mornings, take care of meds, meals and potty breaks, and will get Darcey tucked back into bed each night. We're going to move Darcey's hospital bed from our upstairs bedroom to the downstairs dining room. Not having to move Darcey up and down in the stair lift will be helpful for Gina. And as I anticipate being awake and asleep at odd hours (likely based up mediation timing and pain levels), Darcey will sleep better at night if she's downstairs.
My son, Jim, is leaving Brooklyn and will take 2 - 3 months off of work (he does freelance film production for television advertisements) to become my primary caregiver. I've owned my own computer business since 1988 and was worried as to how I'd care for my loyal client base while I was down and out. But Jim, who worked for me a number of years in his youth and as an adult, will be filling in. And Andrew, who worked with me from his junior year in high school... through college... and several years after college, is taking a leave of absence from his current job (he is a lead computer tech for the NTSB) so as to be available to care for my client base (at least for the most critical first 3 - 4 weeks after surgery). And there's been another two handfuls of folks who said that they'd love to fill in from time to time to provide relief to Gina and Jim. Yep... I think we're going to be able to make this work.
With the date now locked in, I'm in a race with the calendar to get work caught up before I relinquish the reins. I'll continue to peek in but will likely return to "observer" mode for a time. Wish us luck as we continue on this great adventure called "Life"!
Always my best...
Jim
So much of love and life is echoed within those words. I first pledged to them in marriage but find they are also much a part of every day living. In fact, I'm about to embark on another "for better or for worse" chain of events.
I've scheduled back surgery for November 12th. This surgery is for a degenerative spondylolisthesis and a degenerative disk that have become increasingly painful and which are affecting my ability for the physical part of care-giving (and most anything else). The surgery consists of two parts - a laminectomy (a decompression) and a spinal fusion (with pedicle screws and titanium rods). It will be a 6 hour surgery with 2 - 4 days stay in the hospital... 3 weeks of pain before it begins to subside... and 8-12 weeks minimum before I can lift anything of merit.
Gina, who already provides care-giving assistance for Darcey 3 days a week, will be here on a nearly full-time basis. She'll get Darcey up in the mornings, take care of meds, meals and potty breaks, and will get Darcey tucked back into bed each night. We're going to move Darcey's hospital bed from our upstairs bedroom to the downstairs dining room. Not having to move Darcey up and down in the stair lift will be helpful for Gina. And as I anticipate being awake and asleep at odd hours (likely based up mediation timing and pain levels), Darcey will sleep better at night if she's downstairs.
My son, Jim, is leaving Brooklyn and will take 2 - 3 months off of work (he does freelance film production for television advertisements) to become my primary caregiver. I've owned my own computer business since 1988 and was worried as to how I'd care for my loyal client base while I was down and out. But Jim, who worked for me a number of years in his youth and as an adult, will be filling in. And Andrew, who worked with me from his junior year in high school... through college... and several years after college, is taking a leave of absence from his current job (he is a lead computer tech for the NTSB) so as to be available to care for my client base (at least for the most critical first 3 - 4 weeks after surgery). And there's been another two handfuls of folks who said that they'd love to fill in from time to time to provide relief to Gina and Jim. Yep... I think we're going to be able to make this work.
With the date now locked in, I'm in a race with the calendar to get work caught up before I relinquish the reins. I'll continue to peek in but will likely return to "observer" mode for a time. Wish us luck as we continue on this great adventure called "Life"!
Always my best...
Jim