... My wife and I were enjoying a sloppy burger, ultra-thin cut onion rings and wanna-be McDonald fries at a local joint near Fenway called Tasty Burger - a converted old gas station with good burgers and canned beer. Sounds like we just got out of a Sox game, no too early in spring, or a Bruin's game, think they were actually in Montreal that night on the TVs we were gawking at. No, we were decompressing from an all-day affair of OHS surgery on our daughter Sarah. She was out and well in the ICU, but would be asleep for a while yet. Why the hell were we out eating burgers and enjoying a beer - yes we felt the guilt too. But the nurses in ICU pretty much forced us to get out and get some food, and sanity, in us as it would be a long night and we had hardly eaten since the night before.... You can read about the rest on that night in previous post "Night One - ICU"...
It amazes me that we got through all that - that Sarah got through it with seemingly such ease. We are proud to say that 2 weeks since the surgery she is thriving. She is back to full days at school, starting tomorrow (Tuesday) and is chomping at the bit to get back to the rougher activities from which she is currently banned (wrestling, kicking, punching, cart-wheels, tree climbing, etc...). Patience... you must crawl before you can walk my girl. Well this girl is running and not looking back. And that is a testament to the great care she received and BCH, and again we are so thankful.
Another special thanks goes out to all the locals (especially Tracy) for organizing the 'week o' dinners' for us during our first week back acclimating to life again in Danville. At first we were a little resistant to accept since both Judi and I were still somewhat capable, and heck, Sarah could have cooked for us she was doing so well! But, it is true, we needed some help and a break - and the end of the day was just when we needed to NOT have to think about dinners. They were incredible and I have literally put on 5 lbs to show for it, and I am not kidding - so thank all of you for your kindness and generosity to help us out - it was, and is much appreciated. Problem is, now I won't want to cook...
Sarah had her 11th birthday last Thursday on 4/4 and she was more than well enough to have a couple friends to go out on Friday to get their nails done at Brooke Demer's salon!! They had a blast and it was a nice alternative to either swimming at Comfort Inn or swimming at Jay Peak - neither of which Sarah could do. So, she did get her 11th birthday without any real restrictions, which was a nice surprise!
Sarah has a follow up echo with her local (Dartmouth) cardiologist on Friday just to baseline her current valve performance. We expect consistent results with the day 3 post-op echo, and hope to not have more than one or two echos per year for and long time. Sarah is working on all her thank you card for all the nice gifts, so this is an unofficial THANK YOU until you get your's via snail mail. I think she is moving at a snail's pace writing them too - but she is an 11 year old with too much on her mind!
Now, we are focusing on spring/summer, the warmer air and the snow finally almost all gone. Sarah wants to take winter cover off the boat so they can start playing in that and planning for long summer days on the water. I thought that sounded like a great idea... Summer here we come!
