Surgery Bumped for a Bit

Heather was scheduled for surgery at 8:00am; however, a trauma patient was flown in and bumped her to later on this morning. She will probably go in around 10:00. She is almost back to her normal appearance (minus all of the bazillion tubes coming out of her body) and is not losing nearly as much fluid as she was before. They will probably give her more diuretic to get more of the fluid out of her body as the day goes on.

In most ways it is really great to see her back to her normal appearance, but in others it is harder for me. Now that she looks so much more like herself, it feels like she should be able to just wake up and talk to me and to go home. I miss her.

Many people have asked how I am doing. Obviously, last Sunday and the early part of last week were extremely hard for me. It was almost unbearable to consider her not being a part of my life and Hannah's life anymore. It seemed like a really bad dream, and I definitely was in shock. I have been amazed at her consistent improvement and surprising lack of significant setbacks. As she has continued to do better, it has, obviously, been much easier on me. I'm very optimistic about her recovery. I get good sleep at my sister's apartment (Shalisa and Mike have been very generous to open their home to Heather's sister and me.) every night. Really, I just spend a lot of time sitting in Heather's room, holding her hand, and reading or working on the computer. I have a lot of support. My parents are here almost every day, and Heather's parents and her sister, Heidi, have been here since last Sunday. My sister, Tiauna, has generously been watching our little girl, Hannah, (and our dog, Greta) and brings Hannah up to the hospital for a few hours about every other day.

Friday night Heather's sister and I took Hannah and Greta home for a night. I hope to do that again soon, so that Hannah can remember what it is like to be home. We had fun hanging up all our Halloween decorations. I have to admit, though, that it was really hard for me to be home without Heather (especially when I put Hannah to bed and went through our usual nighttime ritual of prayers and songs).

People have been so kind and generous to us. I can't believe the number of people who have prayed and fasted for us. Many have driven long distances to come and visit us and/or to bring us kind gifts or things we need. People like Tiauna and Marion Davis have been great at being information relay points. Ginny Johnson has made several trips to bring us stuff (including a late night trip before Heather was moved to ICU to bring her some rubbing lotions when Heather's back was hurting her so much) and worked hard to harvest, distribute, and even can the vegetables from our garden. Mark Johnson made a special trip to bring me his cell phone when he heard the minutes on mine were gone (I have more minutes now). Someone mowed our lawn. Someone "stole" our Jeep along with the registration renewal form to get it inspected and ready for the required annual registration (I have heard that it was the Jarretts.). My sister-in-law, Janna, created the blog header. The young women in our ward all wrote cards to Heather, and others have sent cards, flowers, and other gifts. I'm sure that there have been many, many other things that people have done that I'm not yet aware of. I am so grateful to everyone. It amazes me (and doesn't) how much people care about Heather. I really appreciate everything people have done and have offered. Thank you!