Living Life...

Living Life...

Saturday, March 9, 2013

March – Recovering from surgery..!

We were so blessed by the love and support that was given to us while Matthew went through his surgery and during the recovery process and continue to be overwhelmed by the many prayers.  I wish I had pictures of everyone that was at the hospital the day of the surgery and the following days but my mind was on other things. J  During the procedure my mom and I walked the halls of the hospital.  I was too nervous to just sit and wait.  Thankfully Dr. Bear came out to say that everything went smoothly and Matthew was in recovery.  I was able to go back and see him for a couple minutes but then had to go back and wait until he was settled in a room a couple hours later. 

Thankfully, between sending out updates through facebook and text and visiting with everyone at the hospital I stayed pretty busy.  Shane was entertained by watching movies on the computer so he wouldn't have to think about things.  He was very relieved to finally get to see his father and know that he was going to be better.  I was able to take everyone up to see him in his room in groups (since there was still such a large crowd).  Finally, I said goodbye and brought Shane home for the night.  Before going to bed he did ask to pray for his father. 

Unfortunately the following day I had to go to work since they were so kind as to give me one day off with pay in a subbing position.  After work I quickly packed things up while waiting for Shane to get home and then headed back to the hospital.  My family was so kind as to take Shane for the weekend, which gave him something fun to do and allowed me to stay at the hospital with Matthew.  Thankfully, we weren't at the hospital as long as expected, within 48 hours he was being released and we went home to continue to rest and recover. 

Matthew wanted to be up and moving right away and was shocked at how the operation took a toll on his whole body.  Thankfully, he took my advice and decided to stay in bed and rest for at least a week.  The one blessing is that the pain was no longer the excruciating nerve pain he had been experiencing for over 3 ½ years but instead a typical recovery pain.  Emotionally, we were both hoping for no more pain but that wasn't realistic after such a surgery.  We continue to pray that as he heals that the pain will continue to diminish until he no longer does have any pain.  We are encouraged in how quickly the opening did close up which goes to show that they were able to go far enough and remove the damaged part of his arm. 

We still have a couple more months before they will even attempt to try a prosthetic since they want to make sure the nerves have time to settle down so we are taking things one day at a time in the process.  I don’t think either one of us has processed it all yet but each day it becomes more “normal” seeing him without an arm.  I have no doubt that he will adjust to doing things with one arm since he has an amazing strength and determination. 



Matthew's "Prophetic" tatoo.. his arm was taken but they left the tatoo...

We had lots of support with us... 

Including our small group... 

and of course family... 

My mom kept me company walking the halls.. 

Steve is one of the few that visits us at the hospital every time... 

Working on a puzzle with grandma... 

The guys were able to visit and catch up with Jeff

Shane with his grandma

I guess Matthew was "hitting" my mom.. and I thought it was a hug

They were so excited to see Uncle Matthew after the operation..
and of course had LOTS of questions for him.  

I was more thrilled than anyone to see him.  

Though Shane too was very relieved. 

Three days after the surgery and he is already healing up well. 

We continued to have visitors at the house..!

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