A special day

I haven't written in this since November of last year. No one really knew why Mark and I just stopped writing unfortunately. The reason was that was the time that we had to go through some of the recovery just between the two of us. I'm not sure how many people will read this now but I wanted to at least put a note out here on such a special day.

Today is 1 year since Mark's surgery. What a day that was. I lost my husband and got him back all in the same day. It has been tough this past year but I can tell you that he is doing amazing. The tough parts were the days that he felt fuzzy or unsure of his own mind. He would have emotional swings with no warning which were hard. I didn't always my patience-hat on and I sometimes struggled to understand how he felt.

The truth is this experience has helped us become better people, better partners and better parents. We are in constant amazement of our lives and our children. We don't take today for granted because today is precious. We are one step away from true heaven at all times these days. It is a feeling of pure contentment, happiness and love. I can't believe it most of the time. I never knew I could be so happy!!

Mark will continue to recover for at least another year but we know that things are on the uphill swing for us today. On our one year anniversary, thank you again for everyone who helped our little family. We know of no way to ever repay your kindness.

Almost normal

Well Mark went back to work yesterday. Unfortunately he also picked up that stomach bug so it was a little rough on him. Today was a better day. He is finding out that people really missed him which feels kind of nice. In just over a year, he made such an impression on people. He will continue for 1/2 days this week nad then see how things are going with his energy level. So far, he could probably stay at work all day but its okay to ease back into it.

I'm gearing back up for volleyball season. I'm a club volleyball coach in my free time during the winter. Its rather fun and I've always wanted to do it. It was my first year last year and it was a huge growing experience for me. This year will still be a challenge but I know my way around now which helps. I'm excited about it :)

We got the next appointment time for our followup in Little Rock. Mark's MRI is on February 4 and the visit with the doctor is on the 5th. We will have to figure out what to do about the kiddos and the doggies. Mark is also calling around about his followup care after dr. yasargil. At some point, someone needs to take him off of these meds and it isn't dr yasargil. The VA isn't sure who to ask so we get to chase that one down.

I was just talking to Mark about how amazing it was that the VA covered this. His insurance got billed but the VA picked up the difference for two reasons. As a retiree, they are responsible for his care for 5 years when he got out and then this was service connected. We know the cost was at least $30,000 for the week in the hospital. That doesn't include all the pre and post-op care.

I'd type more but Bear just came up here and flopped down on my arm. Now i'm stuck and typing sucks.

Next step

Mark goes back to work tomorrow. This is huge! He will start out at 1/2 time this week and then they will all decide if he will go back to full time after that. From the visits he did last week, it seems he was missed at work and they will be welcoming him back.

Everyone is well again. We had a great Halloween. We took the kids to the mall on Friday evening and did trick or treating there. It was cute with the kids. Then we dressed them up Saturday and I took them just to a few local houses. They don't need the candy and these were the homes that really care about our kids. Lizzie learned a halloween song from Little Einsteins that I had her sing at the houses. That went over really well :)

We only had 8 trick or treaters - that included our babysitter. Mark and I went out to a party last night dressed as Popeye and Olive Oyl. I drank.. and I was more hung over this morning than I have ever been in my life. Not fun and will NOT be doing that again - at least the hangover part of it.

There must be something wrong with the cozmos tonight.. where is the Sunday night football?? Not that the world series isnt' important but really.. its not as fun as football.

Last thought.. if you are in need of any chocolate or sugar - come to my house. We are giving this crap away to anyone who wants it.

My turn

So today hasn't been so great. I came home from work early because I was terribly nauseaous. I've been a little sick this evening but it seems like its getting better. No fever or anything but I did feel cold earlier so I took a bath. It was probably just the hot water and getting out but I was very weak afterwards and my hands started tingling. it all stopped and I'm feeling more stable now. pepto has helped. no clue what got me.. william had a stomach bug over the weekend.

i'm concerned for my very dear friend though. her son is sick. he is 18 months old and has H1N1. his oxygen levels are a little low so if he doesn't get better through the night wiht nebulizer treatments every 3 hours, he's going to be admitted.

we have been very lucky so far. with the exception of william projectile vomiting last weekend and runny noses, the kids are very healthy.

william is potty training. he is doing pretty well with it. he definetly gets that if he pees, he gets candy.. just little smarties but he still gets one. then lizzie gets one too..

okay.. that's it. i'm kind of tired so night night.

Scans

These are pictures of Mark's MRI scans. The first set were a few days before surgery. The second were the day after surgery.. note the swelling on the side of his head.

Dr update

Mark and William both had checkups today with our family doctor. He is awesome and I trust his advice. William is creeping up in the height/weight categories. He was at 25% at 1 year and now he is 50% at 2 years old. I am afraid he might be color-blind becuase he shows no interest in learning colors and gets them wrong all the time. Dr. W said not to worry and its early for that. Otherwise William is doing pretty good for a 2 year old. Mark is also doing well. He is off all of his narcotics. He chose to stop taking them a few weeks ago - they made him a little buggy. So if he needs to he takes Tylenol but that's it.

Lizzie hit her head tonight pretty bad on the our fireplace hearth. She was running around the couch like she always does and tripped. It almost cut the skin, but barely not. If it had, we'd be getting stitches right now. She's okay though. William is good, throwing hissy fits but he's good.

We were downstairs tonight. I LOVE our downstairs. The TV connections should be done this weekend and we will start migrating furniture down there. We played with the fireplace again tonight.. Does anyone else have a pellet stove out there with some tips? We get it going warm but it seems like there is something wrong. I have it on the highest pellet feed and low heat setting but the fire seems to be burning so strong that the pellet feed isn't keeping up. I might have to call the installer to check it.

Thanksgiving is coming up. Our house is open to anyone who wants to stuff themselves silly! Seriously - I made a 15lb Turkey and a 9lb ham last year for like 6 people and 4 pies. So.. feel free to come to our house!!

Sleepy

This will be short. Whoever's black dogs were running around the entire neighborhood need to be shot. I'm not a fan of animal violence but I've been up since 2:30 this morning becuase of my dogs going nuts. Then everyone else's dogs going nuts.. then my dogs going nuts again.... I'm sleepy now.

Seriously.. Bear is up for grabs. Love him to death but if someone else wants him, he's yours.