Eric's Surgery

Eric had surgery on his left shoulder on Tuesday, April 29th. This is the first surgery Eric has ever had in his life. So there was some apprehension. Since Angie had her baby, we had to get creative with finding child care for Anthony. Figuring out who could be with the boys in the morning and get Chase off to the bus stop, and then be with Anthony until we got home was a tall order. Thankfully, my friend Melissa said her oldest son Cody could miss school and babysit. The boys love Cody, so it worked out great.

We arrived at the hospital at 6:20am. They did all the pre-admission work and went through everything with us. We met the anesthesiologist and then the surgeon came and talked to us. If there was a tear, Eric would be staying in the hospital two days. I had not realized that going into this surgery. They said the surgery could be anywhere from 1 1/2 hours to 4 hours depending on the damage.

I went out to the waiting room at 7:30am. One advantage of working at Mercy, is I could take my laptop and connect to the wireless network and work. It helped to keep my mind off of Eric and it made the time fly. The doctor came out right before 9:30 and said everything went well. Once he got in there, he found that his tendon was not torn. He removed a lot of bone and cleared out all the inflammation. His ball and socket looked healthy, along with his bicep. I was excited, because Eric didn't have to stay overnight. At 10:45am the nurse came and got me. Eric was awake and sitting in a chair.

He looked like death warmed over. I could see how much pain he was in. I asked him on a scale of 1 to 10, where is your pain? He said past a 10. So I called the nurse over. She said he already had his pills and there wasn't anything to do but wait. I said, "He needs something now, please." She came back with another pain pill and a shot of high powered ibuprofen for his IV.

He was ready to leave around Noon. The drive home was hard. Eric could feel every bump on the road. We dropped off his prescription for Oxycodone and headed home. He was tired and we were able to get him resting in his recliner. I went and got his medicine and he took a nap. The nurse said Eric could either take two pills every four hours or take one every two. So we started with the every two. Tuesday night Eric took a pill at 9pm. I slept on the couch, so if he needed anything I could get it. Well, my alarm went off at 6, and he never woke me up during the night. Now, why I didn't think to put his pain pills on the table next to him, who knows! So he went 9 hours without a pill. Needless to say, we were back to square one and even worse. He said it hurt more than right after surgery.

The doctor had left in a pain pump, but all the Novocaine was gone, so I was to remove it. It was really hard on me. I started pulling it out, and I could see it was hurting. It was making me sick, knowing it was hurting Eric. I kept pulling and pulling. There had to be at least 18 inches of tubing. It was crazy. Then I pulled off the rest of the bandages. The doctor said the cuts would look like stab wounds. The one towards the front was gaping open. I could have put my pinky into it. I got really emotional and started bawling. It confirmed that I could not ever be a nurse. I just felt so bad and I knew he was in pain. Wednesday night I went out and bought butterfly sutures to help close up the wounds.

Eric went back to work last Monday, which was crazy. He shouldn't have been driving or carrying anything, even if it was his good arm. So it was a long a week for Eric. He saw the doctor on Thursday. He starts physical therapy later this week. He said it is going to take awhile to heal.

Birthday Weekend

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you to my friends and family who called, sent cards, and gifts. It made me feel very special. Friday, April 25th we went to the Elk's State Convention at the Holiday Inn on Fleur. We just show up for the food, drinks and band that starts at 6pm. Since Eric isn't an officer, he doesn't have to attend the meetings or training during the day. The best part is it is free to all Elk members. The band was called "Endless Summer" and they came down from Charles City, which is about 2 hour north of Des Moines. It was a big deal this year, because the new state president is a woman. It wasn't that long ago they started allowing women, and normally the woman have their own order of the Does. However, this small town didn't have a man that could commit the time, so she worked her way up and was being sworn in on Saturday.

The festivities ended shortly after 11pm and we headed home. Miranda and Rob came over from Omaha to stay the weekend. So they were there by the time we got home. Rob said if I stayed up until Midnight I could have my birthday present. We stayed up and talked and then they all sang "Happy Birthday" to me at Midnight. I got to open my present, and they gave me a gift card to "Hu-Hot" which is a Mongolian BBQ place, a restaurant that Eric won't go too. They said they wanted to get something that I could enjoy. It was very thoughtful of them. I am looking forward to going there.

Saturday morning Chase had his first t-ball game at 10am. It was really cold. The sun was shining, but it was only 48 degrees and the wind really blows at the ball diamonds. I told Chase he needed another sweatshirt under his long sleeve shirt he had on, but he thought he knew best. Sometimes it is easier to let him learn the hard way.

We went to his game and he froze, but he did really well. He played near the pitcher's mound, and the other team wasn't hitting the ball very far. So Chase saw a lot of action. In the dugout I threw his coat on and sat there hugging him. His teammates thought he was crying, but his eyes water really bad when he is cold. We got through the game and headed home.

I made hot chocolate for Chase to help him warm up. We had Casey's pizza for lunch. I love having Rob in town. He and I have similar tastes, so we got to have a taco pizza. Rob loves vegetables as I do, and he is working really hard at getting Miranda to try more of them. She now eats broccoli. If I could only get Eric to put some in his mouth!

Saturday night we had a babysitter and Eric and I went to see the movie, "21." It was good. I wish I had brain that could count cards. Eric read the book when we were on vacation and he said the movie wasn't even close, but he still enjoyed it. Afterwards we went to Red Lobster for dinner. I lobster and coconut shrimp. It was very good. We got there after the dinner crowd, so we didn't have to wait. Eric hit a home run with my birthday present this year. He gave me a gift certificate for a facial and massage. Every year I want one, and I would never get one. Normally he asks me what I want, and this year he didn't. It was a wonderful surprise.

Sunday we had to make our rounds to Mercy and Methodist. Our friends Angie and Justin had their baby Sunday morning. Angie babysits Anthony, so the kids were anxious to see Abigail. She was 7lbs. 15oz. and 19 inches long. The whole family was doing great.

Then Jody called to say that his son Josh (12) had broken his arm, and Knoxville couldn't fix it. So they were at Mercy and would be having surgery to put pins in. When we got there, they had some good news. The doctors thought they set it well enough and didn't put pins in. They go back today to see if it is healing well enough, or if they have to go back and put them in.

We had a very eventful weekend.

The Bonefish Grill

I am going to start back to a week before my birthday. I had the opportunity to experience The Bonefish Grill with my friend Marnie. We had a great night out. We wanted to go somewhere that our husbands would most likely not take us. She had her neighbor girl come over and babysit Ryan and my boys. We then headed out and enjoyed an amazing dinner.

We sat in the bar and had a Pomegranate Martini, which is their house special. It tasted way too good. A few of those would be dangerous. It was garnished with three frozen grapes. It was really delightful. We then were seated in the dining area and went with their special for an appetizer. It was crab, scallops and shrimp in a garlic sauce with mushrooms and peppers. It was tasty. Then you could take the bread and dip it in the sauce. Marnie ordered Grouper with Au gratin potatoes and I ordered the special which was Wolf fish and scallops with garlic mashed potatoes. We had never heard of Wolf fish. It is caught off the coast of Greenland. They mainly feed off of shell fish.

Let me say, it was the best fish I have ever had. It was so mild and sweet tasting. Plus it is cooked on a wood burning grill, so it has that added flavor as well. It just melted in my mouth. The scallops had a wonderful flavor as well. Marnie and I shared our fish, and the Grouper was also very good tasting. Marnie and I haven't had a chance to go out without the kids since, we have had kids! It was so nice to just talk and catch up.

The boys also had a good night and played well with each other. They all liked Melissa the babysitter and wanted her to sit again.