Apr
2013

Bypassing the stent

IMG_1940I have been practicing packing with Mommy and making lists of the things we need to pack for the trip. And Poppa sent me a picture this week that the seeds we are planting are starting to sprout. I am so excited!

He said…

The big part of this week was obviously as we discussed last week, Dad’s angiogram on Thursday. It was a very early start to the day but not one I wasn’t accustomed to what with my regular trips to the gym before work. I was over at Mom & Dad’s by 6am on the nose, ready to bring them back across town to University Hospital for the angiogram. We got Dad in before 7am and checked in, and then came the waiting…

The outcome we had hoped for with the angiogram was that they would be able to move to angioplasty and stent and everything would be cleaned up. They’d keep him for a couple days and then he would go home all better. The whole process, was only to take a couple of hours and we would know.

So Mom and I ensconced ourselves in the waiting room with our iPads and proceeded to make time fly while I wondered how people survived moments like this in the days of year old random magazines that you would never normally thumb through, let alone read cover to cover.

After a couple of hours the nurse came in to get us and we went to see Dad. As it turns out, there are more blockages and concerns than could be fixed with the angioplasty, so the prognosis and solution was now bypass surgery — they had to open up his chest. Not necessarily the solution we were hoping for, but I think we all would rather find out now, this way, rather than some surprise we never knew about until too late.

Dad has to have a consult with the cardiologist in the next week when they will set and book the surgery. We’re really hoping that it either happens before – or more likely – after the trip. He and Mom are still emphatic that we go on the trip regardless, but I will find it very hard to do so, if the surgery is scheduled during.

With our minds on that all week, it went by in a blur. We managed to have some very nice weather on Saturday which by the time I was done work at 5pm was perfect for the glass of wine (or threeve) and barbecuing we did which was a very nice respite from the concerns we’ve lived inside the last week.

After supper Emelia proceeded to work on me for the next hour to take the training wheels off of her bicycle — something she had spent a considerable amount of time on Danielle all day long. Aside from the fact that she is no where near ready as she rides staring at her feet, I moved up the training wheels to their most elevated setting and she still couldn’t ride without relying completely on them.

When I tried to explain to her that she wasn’t ready, this started an hour-long temper tantrum that went well into the bedtime routine, as she was stubbornly certain we were wrong. She’s growing so fiercely intent on her idea of independence that sometimes the notion of that defeats common sense. Still I have to say aside from the tantrum, I really love her patience… Even if it does add more grey hairs.

This week is really our second last week to the trip, so almost 100% of the focus will be on getting ready to pack and making sure we have everything that we need. I booked an extra day off after we get back so I’ll have time to recuperate and be ready for work, so I am happy about that. The only thing not trip related in the next few weeks will of course be the surgery date for Dad. So we’ll cross our fingers that everything goes exactly  as we hope for.

Which brings me to… Only 11 more days till Disney. Next week’s post will be the last one before we go.

 

She said…

John pretty well summed up what was foremost on our minds for most the week. We did everything we could to distract ourselves from the appointment on Thursday, most times unsuccessfully. And yes the outcome is not what we had hoped, we had really thought that outcome of the test on Thursday would mean that the doctor could have solved the concerns about Doug’s heart that day.

Sadly it is not as simple as we had hoped and although we know he is in the best possible hands the idea of a major surgery is concerning nonetheless. We are so grateful to live in the city we live in so the family can all work together to help mom and dad in this time they need us most. But we all wish the timing was different. Hopefully this time next week we have a timeframe in hand as to when Doug will have his surgery date in hand and we can deal with the next stage.

We did what we could to do our normal day to day, I had a busy week with the kids and our evenings filled up just as quickly. Tuesday night I had my group of daycare provider friends over for our monthly meeting. We had a huge mess with our support website in February and have spent the next few months fixing all the chaos. So this was our first monthly gathering in a long time and it was amazing to see all my friends. This group of women as a source of online support has been a sanity saviour in an otherwise isolating profession.

We had a great time, shared a lot of laughs, shared some ideas and spent much of the evening having the ladies pick my brain about fitness and nutrition. I had been so fortunate to have incredible friends help me along the way that it was great to pay it forward so to speak.

Wednesday I was back at the grind of my normal evening workouts and the 30 day shred. It felt fantastic. But who knew that would be the last workout of my week. Yes, the person who obsessively works out 2x a day some days had to take a break. On Thursday night after bringing Emelia to Sparks, John and I got some errands done and I started noticing my ankle was really hurting me and when I looked down it was all purple and swollen bad enough I could barely see my ankle bone. Apparently what seemed like a minor roll on the ankle had done more damage than I thought. John encouraged me, and I agreed that I should take the night off from my normal workout. I had done my 30 day shred but the workout at the gym was going to be skipped. Only for a night, or so I thought.

Friday. I woke and my ankle was feeling better and back to it’s normal size. However, it was a rough day. Emelia was not on her best behaviour, the other children (one in particular) followed suit. I had finally got everyone settled for nap and quiet time and was going to finally sit down and have my lunch. As I was getting to the living room I walked right into the coffee table, well my baby toe went crack and stuck straight out. I gently massaged it back into place but I knew instantly I had broken it. My foot bruised within minutes and swelled. I did what I could and iced as long as I could manage with 4 children in the house but it was not doing much good. It was broken and I was hurting.

Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done, I have tried and failed to keep off it on the weekend and iced as much as possible. The hardest thing for me is that I am off the gym until I can at least get a pair of shoes on other than sandals. I have worked so hard at the gym that not going is not making me a happy camper. But being healed for the trip is far more important. So I will take some time off as best I can and hope for the best.

The weekend was busy as weekends parenting solo often are. Both Saturday and Sunday we dropped John off at work early. Emelia and I spent the morning Saturday getting errands done and the afternoon we had a picnic in the beautiful spring sunshine at Springbank Park. We spent the better part of 3 hours there and soaked up as much sunshine and outdoor time as we could. By the end of the day we picked up John, fired up the BBQ and had a steak dinner with a glass of wine and enjoyed our night together (well after the drama end with Emelia).

Sunday was a slightly lazier pace of a day. I had to get some cleaning and organizing done for the week but we did manage to have some time with great friends and did some more trip prep. This morning Emelia and I went over to my good friend Leanne’s place. Emelia and Leanne’s daughter Hannah have become quick friends. The girls play AMAZING together and it makes it perfect for Leanne and I to catch up. It was a great start of our day. In the afternoon after FINALLY convincing Emelia we really had to go.

We made a quick stop to get the supplies for a project she and I were going to make for the trip. Her autograph book, a good friend of mine Jodi had shown me the autograph book her daughter had brought to Disney and I thought it was a perfect little project she and I could do together. So off we went to get some new stickers, a notebook and markers and we made her very own personal autograph book with a personal sticker page for each of the characters she hopes to meet. We need some more stickers but we are sure that we can keep adding to our collection as we go.

The later afternoon was full of wonderful surprises. I always have to say what generous and amazing friends I have. In this weight loss/getting healthy journey I have been on it with some amazing moms. One being Leanne who last weekend surprised me with some clothes that she no longer fit into, and today my friend Gillian surprised me with a knock on the door and a packed bag of stunning skirts, I mean stunning! I was overwhelmed. I cannot thank her enough, they are just beautiful. So between my two amazing friends, some careful sale shopping I have a wonderful new summer wardrobe to show off my wonderful new figure!

If that was not enough, another knock came at the door as I was trying on all these new skirts, and it was our close friend Dawn. She was in town visiting other friends of ours and she surprised me with a stop in before she headed back to Toronto.

All in all an amazing day filled with sweet, supportive and generous friends. How lucky can one girl be?

 

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