Song of the day:
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, I haven’t been posting much lately. Part of that is because work has been crazy but part of it is because my stepfather Frank went into the hospital a little over two weeks ago and was just transferred to a rehab center yesterday.
I know many of you who read this blog newsletter thing are already aware of everything that’s been happening, but I wanted to share with the rest of you.
Two Saturdays ago my mom let me know that she’d called 9-1-1 because she couldn’t get Frank out of bed. His mobility has been declining for a while now but this was different. His legs simply wouldn’t work. After a myriad of tests they determined that he’d had two bilateral strokes and that fluid in the brain was a likely culprit of the mobility issue, as well as the decline in cognitive functions. This fluid has been there for a while but they were previously told there was nothing that could have been done. Thank goodness there were better doctors this time around because things could mostly definitely be done.
I flew to Colorado a week after he entered the hospital so I could be here for two procedures and one surgery, mostly to support my mom. He had a lumbar puncture (aka spinal tap) last Monday to drain some of the fluid and he reacted well to it. This made him a good candidate for surgery to insert a shunt in his brain as a more permanent solution for the fluid - this was done on Friday. In addition, he had a loop recorder inserted on Tuesday to monitor his heart. As you can imagine, it’s been quite a week. My mom and I have been at the hospital every day, but were able to get away around 5 each day to get some dinner then come home and relax. Before I got here she was staying until 7 every night and then coming home, not eating well, and well, you get the picture. I was so thankful I could take the week off from work to be here for all of this.
I’m still in Colorado, working remotely this week, as we expected he would be going to rehab after the surgery. I wanted to be here to help with that transition as well and am thankful for the ability to do so.
To those who have been praying and sending good thoughts, THANK YOU!!! I can’t tell you much it means to me and my mom (and to Frank!). This rehab road is going to be tough, but we have faith that he’s in the right place and are thankful that we serve a mighty God who is in control of all of this. Your continued prayer is much appreciated. And for those just learning about all of this…if you’re the praying kind, we welcome your prayers as well.
I’m not sure how much I will be posting while I’m here but I’ll try to keep you updated as we move forward.
I took this picture when I was here in May, just after my mom and Frank closed on their house (they moved into a retirement community earlier this year). I know many of you have met them but for those who haven’t, now you know who I’ve been writing about.
Before I close this out, I want to give a Happy Birthday shoutout to my friend Don who’s celebrating today, and to my friend (and former boss) Amy, whose birthday was yesterday. Yay for birthdays!!
Video of the day:
We lost Chadwick Boseman two years ago yesterday. It’s still shocking to me that he’s gone. Someone posted this video on Twitter yesterday, and it’s one of my favorites. I think it’s the perfect example of who he was. Wakanda Forever.