Simple Gifts

Friday, January 28, 2011

I bought David a sled because I wanted to take him sledding so much. He had fun for the most part except for when it tipped and he fell in the snow. After that he was little unsure about the whole idea. He has become more comfortable again. He also enjoys getting pulled around in the sled while I feed the chickens and do chores outside.

I'm not sure why he was sticking his tongue out :)

Our Snowman

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Going Home

We are going home today! Andrew is doing really well I think the transition and his recovery will be so much easier this time. It is snowing this morning so hopefully the roads will be ok. Andrew's Mom is coming down this morning to pick us up. David went home with her last night and this morning is going to our house with two of Andrew's brothers. They will start the fire and get the house warmed up for us. It will be so nice to get home to a warm house. We will probably be leaving here around noon and will probably get home around 2 or 3. We are both looking forward to being home again!

Saturday, January 08, 2011

For the Curious

Here are a few diagrams of what Andrew's surgeries have been about.
I got these from http://www.j-pouch.org/

The first surgery was done laproscopically which is minimally invasive. Most of his colon was removed last time but some of the rectum was left. He had an ileostomy which comes out of his abdomen and empties into a bag.

So this time the rest of the rectum was removed and a J-pouch was made. A new ileostomy was made to allow the pouch to heal.

The next and final surgery will just be to reconnect the two parts together. The J-pouch will be functional at that point and he will no longer have an external bag.

Thankful

Andrew had his second surgery yesterday. It went really well and he is recovering nicely. I am so grateful that everything went well! There is an amazing difference this time compared to last time. He is so much stronger. He has been able to get up a few times today and even walked down the hall a little ways. I am sure his recovery is going to be quicker this time. We will be down here in Spokane for a few more days, the doctor said three to four, then we will get to go home and get settled in for a couple weeks. My dad and sister are coming up to help me out during Andrew's recovery which will be really nice. Thank you to everyone who has been praying.

Monday, January 03, 2011

Home Again

We are home now after a wonderful trip to visit my family in California. The trip home was long and slow sometimes due to bad weather, but we made it home with no trouble. We arrived home to a lovely white world. I am enjoying being home and having some winter. We have been getting settled back in and also starting to prepare for Andrew's next surgery on Friday.