After we returned from Texas, we only
had a couple days before Matthew’s surgery was scheduled. I was insanely busy
during those days so the day we got home I made sure to unpack and prepare my
lunches for the week. I collapsed into bed exhausted that night and woke up
early the next morning for a doctor’s appointment before work.
It was so good to be at work even if
it was only going to be for two days. I had a lot of things to catch up on
since we had to make some caseload changes while I was out of town. I am so grateful
for my amazing para staff and student teacher who kept things up and running
while I was gone.
After work on Tuesday, I went home to
prepare for Matthew’s surgery the next day. He had to do the preparation as if
he was doing a colonoscopy which is never fun when you have a colostomy. Every
few minutes we were running back to the shower… the only safe place to change
the bag when it was at this stage. We were both very glad we decided to cancel our
small group at the last minute. His former PA, Connie, came over for the night
since she wanted to go to the hospital with us when Matthew had surgery. It was
fun visiting with her as I packed Matthew’s bag for his hospital stay and my
backpack for the day. Matthew and Cooper then went to pick up my parents from
the airport while I got some sleep. I was very grateful that they decided to
come into town before Matthew’s surgery.
On Wednesday, May 14th, we woke
up early and headed to the hospital to check Matthew in for surgery. The surgeon’s
had high hopes that they could do the surgery laparoscopically and be finished
in about 4 hours. I was super grateful to have people in the waiting room with
me. So often, I am alone waiting for Matthew while he is in surgery. Having
multiple people meant that I didn’t have to entertain if I didn’t want to, but
I also had people to talk to and distract me at times. After about five hours,
one of the surgeons came out to give us an update. They attempted to do the surgery
laparoscopically for two hours but then determined it was no longer safe, so they
had to open him up and finish the surgery. His portion was complete, and the
other surgeon was working on his portion and then would close him up. After
another two hours we finally got a phone call from the other surgeon that he
was finished, and Matthew was moving on to the recovery room. It was already a
long day… 2 ½ preparation before surgery and another 7 hours of surgery, so Connie
decided to head out and shortly afterwards my parents headed home. They graciously took Cooper home with them so
I could stay the night with Matthew. 2 hours later he was moved to a room, and
I was finally able to see him.
Since I was not expecting to stay the
night… or multiple nights for that matter… after talking to my mom and her
willingness to keep an eye on Cooper for us, I had her pack a bag of items that
I wanted, and our friend Dan stopped by the house and brought them to the
hospital. I was so grateful for everyone who was praying for us, my parents staying
with Cooper, my work for their encouragement while I was out, and those who
came to the hospital to visit. It made the hospital stay much easier.
We had multiple people from each surgeon team stop by every day and check in on Matthew, including the surgeon’s themselves on the weekdays. While he was not allowed anything by mouth (except a few ice chips) until he had a bowel movement, they did encourage him to get up and move as much as possible, so we did LOTS of walks around the floor. Matthew was the life of the party, and all the staff called him the local comedian. They cheered him on every time he walked past them. On Saturday, Matthew recognized one of the doctors that stopped by to visit. It was Sunshine… the one that saved his life when he had a bowel blockage 8 years ago. It was so much fun to see her and joke around with her.
Our favorite CNA was also named Bella :)
On Sunday, I finally had to say goodbye to Matthew and go home. I needed to get more meds ready for Cooper and had an early morning appointment the next day. It was hard to leave him alone at the hospital and I didn’t get very good sleep that night. When I arrived home, Alyssa was there with the kids so I was able to spend some time with them before showering and then I also prepared my lunches for the week as I would be going back to work starting Tuesday. I climbed into bed exhausted but for some reason sleep evaded me.
Once again, I headed back to work on
Tuesday. It feels like I am there long enough to get caught up before leaving
again. This week, I had training at District office on Wednesday for MLE. It
was the first time I was able to meet all the other MLE High School Curricular
lead teachers. It was a lot of fun, and I learned about the system the district
uses. I also learned one of our new students should be receiving services, so
we need to have a plan in place to check into every incoming student. Since our
program is so new, I am still learning all the ins and outs of MLE.
On Wednesday Evening, Matthew was
finally released. It was so nice to be able to pick him up and bring him home.
I was able to sleep a lot better knowing that he was right next to me in bed. Cooper
of course was also very excited for him to be home and wanted to wait on him hand
and foot.
I really wanted to go to work on
Thursday as we had a party planned for my student teacher. She was graduating
on Friday with her teaching degree and Masters. It is such a huge accomplishment
and I wanted to be there to celebrate with her. Cooper and my mom were willing
to watch Matthew so I could go in to work.
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