2017 Life Logs, Day 40: Justin’s Surgery Day
Date: Thursday, February 9, 2017
Weather: Mix of Clouds and Sunshine; Temp in the 80’s F
Location: At Home with JJZ&C, Finca Maravilla, Aguada, PR
Today was the day of Justin’s umbilical hernia operation, so Jo went with Justin to the hospital and I manned the home front with Ziggy and Coco. The laparoscopic surgery went smoothly, but the pain is way more than Justin, or any of us, anticipated. He went in for the surgery at 10 am, but he wasn’t released from the hospital until 5:30 pm. He was shocked at how difficult it was to get dressed and walk to the car and he knew there was no way he was going to be able to lay down on his bed at home which is a mattress on the floor. So as soon as Justin and Jo got home, Jo grabbed a futon from the living room, moved it to the bedroom, making a slightly higher bed for Justin. He drank some beef consume and talked with Ziggy and Coco before going to sleep. Then he rested until just now, when it took all the strength and ingenuity of both Jo and I to figure out how to get him out of bed to go to the bathroom. We ended up using towels that we get under him as a hoist. This is one of those cases where staying in the hospital for a day or two with a hospital bed would make more sense than sending the patient home. The doctor explained that the mesh that had to be placed behind the stomach muscles causes the stomach muscles to contract and then spasm at the slightest movement and that is the cause of the pain. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day, but better or not, I am so glad that I am here to help. And thanks to all of you who sent those positive thoughts Justin’s way. He might be in pain temporarily, but the surgery was a success.
Coco and I took Ziggy to school and then had a morning at the beach. Coco is becoming quite the swimmer, but she swims like a synchronized swimming competitor. She dances and twirls through the waves rather than attacking them. When we got out of the water, Coco set up a restaurant and served up sand dishes. And then all of a sudden, we were celebrating Christmas. I love the imagination of four-year-olds. As we were leaving the beach, she talked me into taking her to lunch at the little food bar on the beach and then we went back to town to the meat market. After that we headed to Aguada to the beach near the yellow house where Justin and Jo lived the last time I visited, but Coco didn’t make it. She was worn out from all that dancing in the water and fell so fast asleep nothing could wake her. I changed plans and headed home to do a few chores before we had to leave to pick up Ziggy. We went to the park to play and then spend way over an hour driving in circles looking for the farm stand where I was supposed to pick up a box of organic veggies. We finally found the place, but it was locked up tight. We got home just a few minutes before Justin and Jo. Once we got Justin settled, Jo and I realized that we definitely needed firmer pillows. Since someone was going to have to go back into town to pick up Justin’s pain meds, I volunteered to do that and to drive the extra 30 minutes on to K-Mart to buy pillows. That little rental car of mine has sure come in handy this week!
Jo usually teaches on Fridays, but tomorrow is parent-teacher conference day and she only has to be at school in the morning. I’ll stay home on Justin duty while Jo takes the kids to school and meets with parents. She’ll be home in the afternoon but will then take Ziggy and Coco with her to a school social. She’ll take Ziggy and Coco to that and I’ll spend the evening with Justin. We haven’t dared to think ahead to Saturday, but I think it will just be a quiet day at home. Just what the doctor ordered.
