Apparently Santa drives a furniture delivery truck...

Just a quick update on New Year's Eve. We were delighted this morning to receive delivery of a very special chair for Mom. The chair was paid for months ago by from some anonymous donors (I have no idea who they are). Mom selected the style and the fabric of the chair before the surgery.

The chair gives Mom a very supportive piece of furniture to use while she is recovering. It even reclines! We who have fully functional spines don't realize how much work our healthy backs do to help us get in and out of seated positions. Mom has a strict set of postures she is sticking with while she adapts to her new spine. Many former behaviors don't work anymore. For example, sitting in a simple folding chair is not good. Laying around on a couch is out of the question for several months yet.

Mom needed a chair that provided good back support, with high arms that would help her use her arms to push herself up to a standing position. Today that exact chair was delivered to her.

We've got it set up in the main living area. I think I even heard Mom make a bargain with Dad that she would hang out in the living room in her new chair, as long as no football games were on the TV. She tried it out and was able to seat herself in it and get out of it with no assistance and no pain. She said that it is really comfortable. Given how tiring it's been for her to sit upright for any length of time since the surgery, this chair is a real blessing and another big helper along the road to full recovery.

Here are some prayer requests for this last day of 2008:
(1) Pray for Mom to have the strength to stay upright for more of the day. (This new chair will help assist greatly with this.)
(2) Pray for Dad's strength, physically and spiritually. He remains Mom's most devoted caregiver (i.e., "love slave") and her biggest cheerleader. He is doing an amazing job. At the same time, I know he gets tired with all of the work he has to do.

Praises:
(1) The new chair! What a wonderful gift! If you are one of the secret donors who gave money to the chair fund, we thank you very, very much.
(2) Mom's overnight nurses. (You know who you are.) A special group of women from the church has been coming over each night to watch over Mom and assist her with any needs. This has allowed Dad to have a break from caregiving and to keep up with his sleep. These night nurses have been a huge blessing during these first two weeks of recovery.
(3) All of Mom's bodily systems are doing great. Her appetite is marvelous.

Dad's sister Debbie is coming over tonight to ring in the new year. She is Mom's nutritional guru and is helping Mom get lots of protein. Mom always feels good on days when Debbie is guiding the way with eating. More protein = more energy.

Happy New Year to all of you! We'll see you in 2009.

Remote Blogging from an Undisclosed Location!

Here's an update on Sunday night. I am in N. Carolina at a women's retreat until tomorrow. The photo above doesn't have anything to do with Mom — I just was struck by how pretty my vanilla and strawberry yogurt looked in its blue bowl this morning!

Here's an update from Dad, 12/27/08:
Cheryl continues to make progress. She's getting in and out of bed by herself now for the first time, though I am staying close by just in case. Her walk is hesitating but strong, and she is learning to re-balance herself with her new higher center of gravity. She is spending 15 minutes of every hour out of bed, and her pain level is manageable. Stamina continues to be the major problem, but that should improve as she pushes herself. One indication of her healing: she's starting to get bored.

Thanks so much for your faithful prayers. She doing quite well, though many hurdles remain. It's all encouraging, especially when you remember that she was originally scheduled to be in the hospital until December 30th.

Marks on the wall

A strange image for today. I went into Mom and Dad's bathroom this afternoon and took a (very amateurish) photo of the wall. The reason? Mom had marked her height on the wall twice in the months leading up to the surgery.

I added red arrows in PhotoShop to highlight the marks. Working from the bottom up, here's what the arrows indicate:
(lowest) Mom's height at the time of surgery
(middle) Mom's height about six months before surgery (we note that she lost about half an inch of height in just that short period of time)
(highest) Mom's present height with her new and improved back.

Dad measured the distance today from the lowest mark to the tallest mark. The difference? 3 1/8" inches. Wow. That's 79 millimeters for my European friends out there. It's amazing to see what happens when you straighten out a twisted, collapsing spine. Mom is now 5'9".

She's had another good day. Praise the Lord. It had been a few days since we checked in with "fan emails," so today I spent some time at Mom's bedside, reading your emails to her. She was so touched by your words that she cried. Thanks to each of you who have written to express your affection for Mom in such a heartfelt way.

I'm preparing to leave town until Monday night, so updates to the blog will be a bit sporadic until I'm back. To be honest, I can hardly wait to see all that Mom is doing when I'm back. I predict she'll be showing off her favorite yoga poses.

Prayer for today:
(1) Pray that Mom would be diligent in getting up to do her walking exercises. She can walk short distances, but it wears her out quite a lot. So, please pray that she will "get tough" in this area.
(2) We covet your continued prayers for success in the bone graft. We won't know until Mom's first post-operative check-up in early February whether the graft has worked completely. We'd like to just blanket this area in continued prayer.
(3) Mom is in an interesting space in her recovery. She's not really ready to be social. She's not interested in sleeping all day and all night. She's not interested in watching TV or in surfing the computer — the stimulation feels a little overwhelming. So she's spending a lot of time with her thoughts. She mentioned last night that she'd like to take her experience with the surgery and do something useful with it. She is reflecting on ways to give creative expression to her experience. Maybe this means writing about what she's learned. Maybe it means connecting with families facing the same surgery and advising them on what to expect. We don't know. But, we'd appreciate your prayers for Mom's thoughts during this recuperation time.

Praise:
(1) Mom's pain is less pronounced today. Hallelujah!
(2) We continue to have so much support from Mom's community. Church friends, Bible study friends, gym friends, friends of friends of friends... People around the world are praying for Mom and rooting for her. I can honestly say that feeling all your support is really helping us here on the "front lines" of Mom's caregiving. I guess it's a little weird for you out there in Blog-land to thank God for you, but I certainly thank God for you!

Christmas Day

Christmas Day at home. I know Mom felt good to wake up in her own bed. Her "support staff" here at home was happy to wake up to the blessing of her presence.

(We were also cheered enormously by some delicious homemade food from the kitchens of Kay Himmel and Patty Taylor. Yum.)

It's been a great day so far. A Christmas unlike any other. Mom is adapting well to her new circumstances. We're figuring out new routines — how to move around with success in a non-hospital bed, how to navigate carpeted and tiled floors, how to bathe.

Here are some prayer requests for Mom on this very special day:
(1) Pray for continuing relief from pain. Her pain is not unbearable, but I know it still gives her trouble and wakes her up at night. (Mom's euphemism for being in pain is saying she's "uncomfortable." An understatement, I'm sure!)
(2) Pray that Mom's spirit would be encouraged. She has a hard time noticing all of her progress along the way. Her family is enthralled by her progress — indeed, we see indications every day that she is getting stronger and more mobile — but Mom does not have the same perspective. Pray that she would be have a better sense of all she's accomplished so far.

Praises:
(1) Mom had had some swelling in her hands and feet for several days following surgery. The swelling is now gone.
(2) We continue to note with some delight that Mom's incision site looks perfect. No signs of infection. This is terrific!

She's home!

Great news — Mom checked out of the hospital successfully this afternoon and is now resting comfortably at home!

We're thrilled to have her home and are getting set up to offer care there. Mom doesn't have as many terrific amenities at home as she did in the hospital. But I think waking up in her own bed in the mornings will be really comforting.

While she was in the hospital, some secret Christmas elves snuck over to the house and left some special presents for her. Lauri and Jonathan Petty came over and planted pansies in pots on the front steps. It was a real joy to see those bursts of color by the front door. Hal Posner also left a beautiful bouquet of roses. Mom was really touched by these thoughtful gestures.

Now comes sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep and more sleep. We are tiptoeing through the house, just trying to create as much quiet as possible. The doctor said yesterday that it's pretty normal for Mom to feel like she's been hit by a bus. She's had a huge part of her body taken apart and put back together. She's beginning a long process of recalibrating. So Mom could sleep straight through Christmas at this point. I wouldn't mind a bit.

Hospital recovery, day 6 - morning

10:19 am EST - Update from Dad
Cheryl has turned a corner. Thanks for the prayer! She is feeling much better. Pain is way down. She's taking the initiative to get up and walk around. The doctor came in this morning and gave us the okay to go home today! Don't know exactly when it will be, but probably around lunchtime. Stamina still isn't great, but all her numbers look good and she is eating more. I think one good night's rest without being awakened and poked ought to do wonders. What a nice Christmas gift I get this year!

Thanks for standing with us in prayer. There have been wonderful parts to this whole process. The only negative has been seeing her hurt, and the worst of that now seems like a distant memory. She told the doctor this morning that her pain level is 2/10 lying down and 4/10 sitting or standing. That's down from 8/10 and 9/10 right after surgery. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Hospital recovery, day 5 - evening update

12/23/08 11:21 am EST - I think that Mom is finding herself in a strange place in her hospital recovery. On the one hand, she's got cabin fever. She's tired of being confined to a tiny hospital bed in a tiny hospital room, tired of all the work that comes with being in the hospital all the time (constant interruptions, x-rays, blood tests, etc).

At the same time, she's a little anxious at the thought of heading for home, where there's no fancy electronic hospital bed, and a rather limited staff of "nurses."

We're not sure if today will be homecoming day for Mom or not. We're playing it by ear. Her lethargy was a lot more pronounced this morning, so she's receiving another unit of blood this morning at the hospital. Please pray that this would help give her more energy.

We continue to ask for no unannounced visitors to the hospital. This morning Mom requested (in her fantastically diplomatic way, naturally) that Tim and I not come to the hospital.

This is certainly a good thing. Two fewer bodies in her little hospital room will mean a more restful environment. Mom is recognizing that having two more guests hovering and camping out in her little hospital room isn't necessarily contributing to her healing. It's great that she is discerning what is and isn't helpful to her right now and asking for it. This seems just as important as any other part of her healing. We are happy to give her that space.

- - - - - - - - - - - -

7:49 pm EST - It's been a day of mixed results. I did not see Mom today. She really needs privacy and lots of quiet. I did just get some details from Dad about her day, though.

Here are some prayer requests based on what Dad mentioned:
(1) It appears that the blood transfusions Mom has received in the past 48 hours have helped some. However, she still does not have much energy at all. (Personally, I'm sure this is tied to the sleep deficit!) Please pray that her strength will increase.
(2) We do believe that Mom will be coming home soon — either tomorrow afternoon or Christmas morning. Again, please join us in praying for wisdom for her doctors about when to release her.

Praise:
(1) Mom is eating well and is even experiencing an increase in appetite — that's a great sign.
(2) Her digestive and elimination systems seem to be coming back to life.
(3) She took a shower today for the first time since surgery. I know she must be feeling better after that.
(4) After a day or two of feeling pretty down-hearted, Mom started to just feel a little more like herself today.

Sarah Tate did a great job as Mom's night nurse last night. Debbie Bryant is holding the fort down tonight. I plan to stay with her tomorrow, either at the hospital or at home.