Has it really been over a month since I last posted? Wow! Time really flies at home, especially compared to hospital time.
Let me catch you up with what has been going on since we came home from New Orleans:
My parents and kids flew out just an hour or so ahead of us and, upon arrival in Denver, my Dad went and got the car so that we could have a quick drive home. We collected our luggage and came home to our house in Colorado Springs and got to sleep in our bed for the first time in several weeks. You never really know how much you appreciate your own bed and pillow until you spend several weeks in a hospital bed with hospital pillows!
It was wonderful seeing our dog Adi and she was sure excited to see us! The house was as we left it and all the people watching the kids were able to keep it from burning down or being destroyed in some other fashion. We are deeply appreciative to all who helped us out in this time of need with caring for our kids!
As you know, I came home with a new normal. I had both a feeding tube installed in my stomach as well as a colostomy. The feeding tube was supposed to be in my jejunum (the second part of the small intestine) but had retracted around Thanksgiving and was coiled in my stomach. This meant that the feeding tube could not be used at night as we had hoped to give me some supplemental nutrition for weight gain.
Upon getting back, we tried scheduling an appointment with my doctor to have the tube put back in place but a number of issues prevented that from happening but, on the positive side, I was eating very well! I have had a much better appetite after this surgery compared to previous surgeries and have been packing away the food. My weight has not increased as much as I would like but I have continued to eat and will definitely be returning to a weight closer to my normal. I am usually able to eat at least 2500 calories per day and often break 3000 calories per day which helps the healing as well as the weight gain!
Since I was able to eat so well, we started looking at getting the tube removed as it was physically very annoying. It continually pulled and caught on things, causing no end of minor torture to me. I could not hug people on my left side and could not lie on my left side, let alone my stomach at night. After talking to the surgeon, he approved removing the tube after December 14th and, on the 19th, 5 weeks after insertion, my doctor pulled the tube. It took about 1 minute to pull the tube including clipping the stitches and about 10 minutes to fill out the associated paperwork.
That leaves me with the colostomy as the remaining piece of new normal. I have adjusted to it in many ways but there are still several issues that I am finding my way through. One, however, has been resolved! I should be able to play hockey now due to finding ostomy armor. This should help protect me and the bag from the 70mph slap shots that some folks in my league are able to hammer out in my direction.
The cold has been restricting my walking but I am able to drive, pick up Christmas presents, and be a bit less of a pain in the butt to my wife. We fly back out to New Orleans on 1/14 for a visit with my surgeon on 1/15 and I am hoping to return to work the next day. That is a short three weeks away and I am getting quite antsy around the house, wanting to find a way to contribute to the projects at work and to get caught up in their progress.
Of course, we have our annual ski vacation starting the Wednesday following my return to work so I will be immediately taking some vacation time after a hard first week at work. We are heading up to Aspen again this year and I am not going to be in any shape to hike the bowl at Aspen Highlands nor will I be in any condition to ski the 3000 feet of vertical at Ajax mountain non stop. Also, I won't be as insane about getting more runs in every day and I can already hear the base lodge calling out my name!
Christmas has come and gone and there is both snow on the ground and in the mountains. Winter Park/Mary Jane is well over half open and has around a 40" base of the fluffy white stuff. Ski season is here and I have been jealously watching my wife and kids get to enjoy all that winter has to offer them.
The sky is blue, the stars come out every night, I see my kids smile every day and I get to sleep next to my beautiful wife every night. Life is good and I will treasure every day I get to enjoy on this earth with my family!
