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| Sam's turn to put the Angel on the tree |
Christmas came and went. Sam came home from college for the holidays and we enjoyed his company and the brotherly shenanigans that go along with having Sam and Shane together under the same roof. I enjoyed hearing him play the piano--I have missed that! It went too fast and we shipped him back to the BYU a few days after the new year.
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| Visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads |
It is an "off" year for us--our married children were all here last year so they would be spending Christmas with their in-laws this year. But Siara and Tyler came out from Utah to spend Christmas with us-- a lovely bonus. Also, since Scott and Nicole and the girls live close by, they spent a few days before Christmas with us as well. Good times.
WARNING: Old people medical stuff coming up...
Sadly, Andy had been in and out of the hospital and ER and doctor's offices since November trying to figure out what was causing him excruciating pain in his back. They were throwing every possible drug at him and nothing was helping. It began to get frightening as the clues were not adding up to anything. Finally, the Friday before Christmas he went in for an MRI. It was an infected disc. The disc he had surgery on in September to resolve sciatica pain. The surgery solved that problem and started another. He was ordered straight to the hospital and told not to eat or drink anything. After hours of waiting, he was finally admitted and he found out he would have to be hospitalized for 4 or 5 days. The plan was to give him antibiotics through an IV drip three times a day and wait for the biopsy to grow enough to identify which bacteria was the culprit. We were looking at having Dad/PopPop in the hospital over Christmas. In the meantime, kids and grandkids were arriving and festivities needed to get started. It was the saddest of sads to visit Dad in the hospital and see him suffering and still wondering if he would get to come home for Christmas.
This is starting to sound like a lame Made for TV Christmas Special.
So let's jump to the ending:
The doctor decided they could give him a PICC line and he could administer the antibiotics himself at home. There was some more suspense as we weren't sure if the special PICC line installers would be available so close to the holidays--but they were! And they threaded that line from his shoulder up into the vein near his heart and he got to come home on Christmas Eve eve.
But that was the day I had planned months in advance to go to the New York City Ballet's Nutcracker with Siara. As per our Christmas tradition. The tickets were purchased, the anticipation building and the plans for a lovely cultural experience were in motion. How could I be at the Lincoln Center taking in the timeless story of dancing rats, heroic nutcrackers and lovely sugarplum fairies whilst my husband was abandoned to find his own way home from the Danbury Hospital? A decidedly less cultural experience (except for that bacterial culture growing in his back...).
"Go! You are not missing the ballet for this craziness. I'll get home somehow. I'm just not sure if they will let me check out without proof that I have someone to drive me--don't worry! I'll be fine." he insisted.
Luckily, Scott was there to save the day and be the back-up driver
to fetch his father from the hospital if need be.
to fetch his father from the hospital if need be.
But, Andy drove himself home.
He is the CEO of toughness--
and just a bit crazy.
So we got to spend Christmas together.
God Bless Us, Everyone!
1 comment:
That is horrible! I hope Andy recovers quickly:( I am glad you were able to spend the holidays with family!
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