ICU

He must love these BLUE Gowns because we are always wearing them....

Tom had surgery on Monday the 16th of March.  Almost 20 years ago, he broke his collarbone while playing softball.  Tom decided that the sling was a bit to cumbersome at that time in his life so he decided he did not want to wear it.  His collarbone never came together and bothered him with occasional piercing pain.  Four years ago, when we were living in Cary, some great doctors tried to repair it.  After 3 tries with varying degrees of success we thought it was repaired.  However, it was NOT TO BE.  In January of this year, he started to have some reoccurring issues with his thoracic region and blood flow into his right arm.  After a few trips to the ER, many scans, many consultations it was determined that the metal plate in his collarbone was collapsing on his artery when his arm would raise.  Long-term prognosis was not good and we knew it would need to be fixed.  It was going to require 3 surgeons who were the best in their fields because it was a VERY COMPLEX PUZZLE to solve.

It was to be a 9 hour procedure where they were harvesting his left fibula and artery to his right collarbone.  They were planning on removing the top rib on the right side to make room for the new bone, hardware, scar tissue and artery.  Overall it went well, it was a bit longer…about 11 hours.  The actual procedure went according to plan and the complex puzzle came together beautifully.  However when he was in post operative care, his blood pressure dropped and he went in very critical condition.  Turns out his left lung collapsed because it had been punctured by the anaesthetist (anaesthesiologist) during the operation.  They are not sure how this happened because it was not even near the operative site which was completely on the right side.  It took them 2 hours to get him stable again, lots of tubes and two blood transfusions later but, eventually they made it there.  He was in the ICU for 5 days following. He was finally moved to the ward and now he is convalescing at home.  He is learning how to walk again, improving his respiratory issues and trying desperately per doctors orders to not MOVE his shoulder   

He needs to keep it still for the next four weeks (this is going to be the toughest part of recovery).  Apparently Tom is the first patient in the world to have his fibula and top rib used to make this repair and the doctors are very excited about the possibilities.  

We are so grateful that he is okay.  The girls and I have are so thankful for the prayers, support and kindness of friends and family.  We are very blessed!  I am extremely hopeful that this will be the end of the road for this injury.  Hospitals are not my cup of tea and I hate frequenting them as often as I do with Mr. Tom.

MEMORABLE BIRTHDAYS

YUM, YUM!

Last year I turned 40!  We had a wonderful time celebrating and I thought that my birthday this year would be a little more low key.  My birthday happened to fall on a Monday and Mondays are really busy days for us as a family.  Due to some other arrangements, we decided to celebrate my birthday on Saturday.  

We were scheduled to have our family picture taken that Saturday evening and so we decided that we would celebrate my birthday early in the morning.  Tom knows that I love to go out for brekie and what would be more enjoyable then dining at the beach with the four people I love the most.  We enjoyed some decadent cuisine as we basked in the sunlight listening to the ocean.  It was an amazing way to start my day.  We capped off the day with a family photo shoot and lots of laughter thanks to Wendy from Blue Lily Photography.

I am going to miss celebrating my birthday in late SUMMER when I move away....I love the sunshine!

Monday was my actual birthday.  I was invited by a lovely friend to go on a picnic and bush walk for my birthday.  Three other friends joined us in the national park for this adventure.  We had no idea what an adventure it would turn out to be.  After a beautiful and tasty picnic, we headed out for our bush walk.  

As we got deep into the trail, we came across a NAKED German Hiker (not completely naked I guess, he was wearing a backpack, watch and hat).  It was quite surprising as we were suddenly face to face with him.  I was really grateful to be wearing my new birthday sunnies to hide my surprised eyes.  One of my friends was able to respond with a timely "Guten Tag".  Needless to say, we laughed for much of the remaining bush walk and many more moments afterwards.  I had no idea that I was going to celebrate my 41st birthday with a stranger wearing his BIRTHDAY SUIT!  

One of my friends was convinced that he was a German accountant checking out a new trail for other German hikers that are notorious for hiking in their birthday suits.  How you can determine that a man is an accountant when he is completely naked is still puzzling to me?  I guess I will need to sharpen my observation skills because I cannot even remember if he had shoes on his feet. It was a very MEMORABLE birthday.  

Love these ladies and that they would celebrate with me.  :)

See the Naked Hiker that has been photoshopped into this photo...very cheeky ladies!
 Compliments of Mr. DM.