InstaFriday-Home

Home.

The best place to heal.

The place we headed after 6 days at Cox South.

My doctor husband was on the other side of the stethoscope after a bike wreck on July 11th played tag (and won) with the right side of his body. I'm really kind of surprised that any of my cell phone pictures are in focus as I've been a bit bleary-eyed.

But InstaFriday isn't about perfect pictures. It's about capturing life with a lens that is always handy nowadays. And my iPhone is always handy. It captured 4 of the kiddos surrounding their dad in Bed 1, Room 810 at Cox South Hospital.

Elizabeth, Hannah, biker-boy, Mary Grace, and David

 One thing I did enjoy about that 8th floor was the sunsets. God so speaks to me in his sky.

On Sunday night about 10:30 p.m., Lou's nurse came in and asked, "Do you happen to know why you are NPO after midnight?" (NPO = nil per os, or nothing by mouth, in layman's terms). Usually one is NPO when surgery is scheduled the next day. We had not been told surgery was happening on Monday, nor had the nursing staff.

Who doesn't love a good mystery when you're in the hospital?

So, we began piecing together what we did know. The traumatologists from MU were going to be reviewing Lou's injuries on Sunday night, and discussing a plan of action.  We had been told that they were at Cox on Mondays and Tuesdays for surgeries. But we had also been told that any surgery that might need to be done on Lou's shoulder would have to be a few days down the road because of road rash in the shoulder area. That would seemingly eliminate any possibility that Lou could be scheduled for surgery by said traumatologists.

Hmmm...

Mystery solved Monday morning. Apparently Lou's road rash was in the perfect spot to not interfere with surgery. So, metal plate along the top of his scapula, here you come. His surgeon did an excellent job drawing for me just what he did.

I hope I don't ever have to say, "Lou's got a screw loose."

His surgeon declared the surgery a success. That's always good to hear.

While Lou was in recovery, we passed a little time by messing with my hair. Faith, braider par excellence, worked her magic yet again.

Our last night in the hospital, I took a picture of our view at night. This is looking north, toward home.

This is Lou's left hand. I know he's got a broken bone on this hand, but what I kept staring at was the cut on his ring finger. His wedding ring bore into his skin during the crash...

Can you tell I looked out the window a lot? I watched the the chopper take off and land numerous times.

Another 8th floor view

Tuesday, July 17, was a big day. It was the day after surgery. It was the day they pulled that blessed/cursed chest tube.

It was the day we headed home.

Waiting for transport

I can hardly talk about walking in our house where all the kids and my mom were waiting. Suffice it to say that everything I saw was blurry.

Those precious kids were blurry.

My mom and the dear lady who sits with her when I'm gone were blurry.

My clean house was blurry.

The "Welcome Home" sign and table were blurry.

Somebody get me an eye appointment...or a kleenex.

As we've been back a couple of days, we are starting to settle into our new normal. Lou's doing more sitting and rocking than usual, and I'm helping him put on his shoes more than usual I ever have.

Some normal is not new, thankfully. I ran to get my iPhone when I heard Mary Grace practicing violin. I love her serenading me for 30 minutes every day.

And while we are figuring some new routines out, our dear community is reaching out to us to help. Lunch was provided on Friday by friends and coworkers of Lou's. Wow. We've got lunch for days. It is blessing our socks off. I took this picture to represent the countless many who have given to help. Wow.

Wow.

As we've talked about the generosity we've been showered with, we've been telling ourselves to remember to do the same for others in crisis - once we're a bit past this little speed bump. (Is it too soon to use this metaphor?:)

Well, that's about it for this week. That's enough for this week. Please.

Thanks for sharing it with me.

It's been hard and good. And God has been near.

Blessings!





An InstaFriday P.S.

X marks the spot! Fun!