Oh MY ~ 100!

Happy Birthday to one of the MOST AMAZING and INSPIRATIONAL woman I know ~

My Great Grandma, Sophia NaGreen

100 years young!!

Great Grandma Na Green's birthday was this Saturday and they were throwing a Lil party to celebrate her special day, at the nursing home, with all her friends there.  The BIG shindig was on Sunday with her family and friends in Fremont at her Daughters establishment, Hahn-a-lula.

She even made the Paper :)

My grandmother, Bev, was on her way to the nursing home Saturday with Great Grandma's birthday cake when her car slid on some ice and as she moved to not hit the car in front of her, she hit a pole :(  She was taken to the hospital and there we found out she had sustained a broken rib, sternum, and a sprained ankle.  She is very lucky that those are the only things that happened, after seeing the car and hearing what the Dr said could have happened to her heart n lungs....well lets just say this St Patrick's Day weekend we had some luck head our way.  Needless to say she didn't make the party at the nursing home.....nor did the Cake she made.

She was admitted for observation, as with 2 fractures and her age, 78, that bought her a ticket for a stay at Mercy Medical.  She was so worried about her cake that she made and the car, both of which were smashed :(  Oh Grandma.....cars can be replaced and more cakes can be made :)  Just get better!  I sat with her most of the day while in the hospital trying to keep her calm and help her understand all that they were doing to her.  Not to toot my own horn, but I'm really on my "A" game in crisis' like this.  Both of her daughters, my mom and aunt.....well.....one is an emotional mess and the other goes a mile a minute.....I will let you figure out which one is which, LOL.  Even as hard and painful it was for her to breathe, Grandma made sure that everyone at the hospital knew it was her mother's 100 bday and that she didn't want to miss the party that was planned for Sunday.

Dan and I went to look at the car that evening.  I really wanted to see this "Crumb" cake the first responders were talking about.  I was told it was smashed and all over the trunk.  When I opened the trunk I didn't think it was too bad.....and even despite Dan's opinion of me leaving the cake in the trunk....I salvaged it :)  She was so excited that all her hard work wasn't a total loss, plus I knew she would really want her cake board back.  Dan thought I was nuts to bring it home and "fix" it, but .............. I just had to.  And of course when I told her I saved the cake, her first comment was....."Did you get the cake board?"  Do I know my grandma or what?

I went back up the hospital Sunday morning and had I had packed n planned on spending the day with her there.  That way she wouldn't be alone thinking about the party.  Well she must have put her charm on and the good Dr discharged her.  Boy, if you want to see an injured 78 yr old women move fast ... tell her she can go to the party.  She was trying her best to get out of bed by herself, and even tried to take the IV out.  SLOW down...I WILL get you there!!  I got her dressed, did her hair, and off we went.  From the Dr saying she could go, to us walking out the door.....it was about an hour.  Yes, I had to bust my butt to keep up with her, lol.  She had a very rocky day and it wasn't a fun party for her, as the vicodin did NOT agree with her, so I spent ALOT of time with her getting sick......but if I had to do it again....

I would :)  

Just to see these two wonderful women, that I have in my life, be together to celebrate 100 yrs!!

Check out ALL the people ~ now does my Great Grandma know how to have a party or what?

My Mom made a wonderful poem  ~  

 Yes it is true she is a slobbery sap just like my Great Grandam, lol.

My Uncle Bob put together a 30min movie about my Great Grandmother's life.  Boy, what a woman.... I hope I can do half the things she has done in her 100yrs.  And let me let you at 100 yrs old there isn't much that slows this lady down.

Great Grandma and her 3 Girls ~ Beverly, Nancy, and Judy

Thanks Great Grandma NaGreen for all the wonderful Memories and all the life lessons we have learned from you.  You truly are an inspiration in my life.

Step'n it up!

I find it funny that when our life is crazy nuts and I have alot to say I find time to blog, but when life is going good, well ..... I'm a big blog slacker.  So the moral of it is...no news is good news around here. LOL!  That's not to say I don't have things to blog about, so here we go.
Wow almost a month has gone by.
I know the last post just briefly stated that Dan and I went to Minneapolis......so Yes, Dan and I were able to get out for an "extended" date nite.  We had a wonderful time.  We were able to get to the RV show and talk with the sales team there about what "needs" the RV would have to safely travel with Danny.  Let me say they were  WONDERFUL to work with.  They really listened to what we had to say and they helped us make an RV for Danny with everything he/we need.  The company we were dealing with is Steinbring RV, on a Newmar Coach Canyon Star model# 3911.  Click HERE to see some of the wonderful features this coach has directly from the manufacture, like a roll in shower and.....
wait for it.......
a Braun wheelchair lift.  This coach is/was designed for the driver/operator to be able to drive and operate the RV while in the wheelchair with ease.  They thought of everything and again it's right from the manufacture this way.  AWESOME!!!  We obviously don't need everything to be handicap accessible, so we changed and few things around to go back to the "normal" RV placements, but still keeping in mind that I possibly might be in a wheelchair down that road so we didn't change around too many things.  My point here is that they are very easy to work with and they truly want to make sure that this RV works for you. They will sit down and take the time to rearrange things to fit your needs.  Just to have the ease of getting Danny in and out of an RV without the fear of hurting him or ourselves.  As in the RV now we have to disconnect the vent from Danny, pick him up, carry him up the steep metal stairs, and have someone follow right behind with the vent.  Not a 1 person job and One slip up and .... I don't even want to think what would happen.  If you haven't guessed it by now, Yes we decided to go ahead and order one.  So today Dan and I packed everything up in our RV and they are coming to pick it up soon.  I'll be sad to see it go, we've made some great memories in there, but I'm anxiously waiting to see how many more wonderful memories we can make in this new one.  We already have 3 trips we tentatively have on the calendar for this summer, Bring it on.  We'll definitely give the RV a work out.

Danny got new Wheels.  This was a long haul to get it from the manufacture to our living room, but it was SO WORTH it!  This is a SymmetriKit Power Chair with Finger forms along the back and Aero "breathable" back panels.  It's made in the UK, So the traveling this chair went through was just a hope, skip, and jump across the "pond" which took approx 3 months to get here.

 Look at that smile......yeap he LOVES it!  Plus this momma LOVES it for him.  It's so comfy, it's VERY easy to adjust, and it's wide range to of adjustments this chair has is AMAZING.

I just love this picture.  They are both together watching TV sitting side by side.
The King and Queenie of the House

 Look who's Back in the hot tub for.  He just LOVES being in there and Ms Gail doesn't mind it either. I really want to see him in the hot tub more often.  It's so good for his muscles, tone, range whatever you want to call it.  We are very lucky that he has a nurse that's just as excited to go in the hot tub as Danny is :)

 Danny is doing fantastic!  He never ceases to amaze me.  He had alil hiccup with a staph infection at his G-tube site.  I was alil discouraged as Danny has never had issues at his site's....we have always been commended on how healthy his sites look.  Today his site looks wonderful again with no scaring or granuloma.  YAY!!  The last few days he has thrown a curve ball by not peeing on his own so we've had to cath him once n awhile.  We are not sure why he is doing this, but all the tests we've had done have shown nothing funny is going on.  I guess he's entitled to a few off days once in awhile.  His school had contacting me about coming back out to see him again.  I can't wait to show him off to them.  I am not going to be sending him back TO school as it's just too "buggy" for him there, maybe a field trip here n there, but his schooling will be set back to home bound services.
Dan has been very busy between the EMR calls, Firefighting calls, Laundries, and plowing snow.  I've been calling him "Snowman".  He's getting alil frustrated with the days being like the "groundhog days".  I think he finally loathes winter as much as I do.  I tell ya Florida sounds better n better, to the both of us...lol.  Dan is starting to turn his gears to the 2013 racing season.  I'm sure the Fairmont is coming out of the trailer soon and the sounds n smells of racing will be floating through "The Ranch".  Since our trip through "The Southfork Ranch" in Dallas, it's sparked some fond memories that Dan and I had in our childhood.  We both remembered watching it as kids, but we don't remember the details.  So I found the whole collection of the "Dallas" seasons, so we spend most of our evenings watching what we call "Dallas Dope".  Once one episode is done we just have to watch another one.  LOL!
Avrianna is doing Great.  She is now involved in archery too and She loves it!!  I've said it before and I'll say it again....this girl is amazing.  I don't know how she does it.....ALL!  I believe there is nothing this girl can't do.  Watch out world, Avrianna is coming.  Between excelling in school, dive, piano, viola, trumpet, bells n chimes in church, choir in church, archery, and just being a kid she balances it all nicely.  I can't believe she manages it all, as being just the taxi can be alil over whelming, and she still has an open mind as to what else is out there for her.  I can't wait to see what she does when she grows up.
I'm just plinking about.  Taking everyday, hell every minute.....as it goes.  Some good and some bad, but for the most part I've been doing well.  I am still trying to balance MS and trying to loss weight.  I've hit a wall and it sucks!  I've gone to many health coaches and physicians but they haven't been able to get me any info that I don't know already.  I was able to talk to my primary/osteopathic Dr last week and he is going to help me.  Well, guessI should have gone to him first instead of hitting dead end after dead end.  Maybe I needed to hit the wall to give it my ALL.  I am IN THIS with EVERYTHING I HAVE.  My D.O. gave me a site to go to, The Canary Club, on this site you are able to order tests to figure out your levels of hormones and other things that could potentially be a key factor in maintaining your health and issues with weight.  Most Dr's don't test all of these things even though, they know for a fact, many have issues with these levels.  I did these tests and sent them in so now to sit and wait to find out the last piece of the Lori's health puzzle.  I've been tested for everything else so I can't wait to see what these tests have to say.  Then I can give myself a better feel of what I'm up against in this fight I'm having with myself.  I owe it to myself !!  I can only hope people look back at my life and say I did everything I could by taking every obstacle I've come up against with a fight and some grace.  I have enrolled myself in a pilot program for weight loss and wellness, with a local fitness center.  I'm excited to see if/how it is going to work.  Stay tuned...I'll keep you posted!

Just Thinking ..... Would?

When things calm down my brain goes into over time.  I'm weird I know, but when I have my brain on a mission it's hard for me to to stray from my point.  Now that I am doing well, Danny is doing amazing, and life around here is should I say it.......slowing down.  It gives me time to dwell in uncharted waters.  Dan and I were on our way to Minneapolis, MN to check out a handicap accessible RV, and while on the 5 hr drive we have a great time to chit chat.  While during our talking there was one comment I made that just turned on the thought process.  Out of no where....here we go.  I said .... "Could you imagine how much more running we would do if Danny was in all the music and sports Avrianna is in?"  And ...............

***BAM*****

My head was spinning.

What sports would Danny do?
Do you think he would play an instrument?  Which one?  How many?
How would he do in school?
Jock? Geek? Grit? (wow just aged myself there)
Would he be the leader or a follower?
Would he have many friends or just a few?
Sassy or Shy?
What would his voice sound like?
How many, if any, of the medical issues he has would he have if he was "typical"?
Would Avrianna and him get along or have some serious sibling rivalry?
What would he be when he grew up?
Would he get married?
Have kids?
Would he LOVE his momma?
Do you think we would still be in our first house on Elm St (man I loved that house)?
Would Avrianna be different if she had that brother to play with.....like most of her friends?
How would our lives be?

Wow ~ I could go on and on.  I really hate to go there as I know Danny doesn't know all the the dreams and wishes I had for him are not there and have changed.  He goes on day to day just being Danny and enjoying the day the best he knows how.  This morning I walked in his room gave him a kiss on the cheek said "Good Mornin Mr O" and I got the biggest smile.  Man that just makes my day, but also just breaks my heart.  I've learned more from this lil boy already then I will ever be able to teach him.  I LOVE him so much........and would/will do anything to fight for him to be here with me as much and as long as I can......but I can help sometimes to wonder.  Just wish the circumstances were different for him some days :(

Too Good to be True?

I have to say things here continue to be on the up n up.  BUT I'm always cautiously optimistic just wondering and waiting when the next hurdle will need to jumped.  For now we are all doing WONDERFUL!
At least it's pretty all covered in white!

It's been frickin COLD here the last few weeks along with tons of snow.  Dan says it's just like Groundhogs day around here ~ go out and plow snow to do it again the next day.  We are suppose to get another 5-7" in the next 24hrs, so I'm sure he's just excited about all of that.

Dan has passed the state First responder course and now is not only a Town of Neenah Fireman, but a Town of Neenah EMR.  Way to GO!!  So between the fire dept, EMR calls, Laundries, and gearing up for the 2013 racing session....he can't say he's got nothing to do, lol.

Danny is ROCKIN this back fusion!  He's better then before ... and I'm so happy for him.  The only real hiccup is his GAS.  Man he is full of it, LOL.  We are feeding him all of his food now during the day with no overnite pump feedings, so his gut is working like a "normal" persons.  He has NEVER NOT had overnite pump feeding before and I think his gut is trying to figure out what the heck is going on.  He is having a BM on his own, just about everyday and it's great we don't have to aid him too much more with that...but it's so NOT Danny's norm.  It's a good thing, but again not what Danny is used to.  We are trying to figure out if we can calm his gassy gut down.  Danny's been chillaxing at home in front of the fireplace watchin movies, but I'm sure he'll be glad when it warms up and he can get out of the house more.

Look how great this boy heals, not to mention how straight n tall he his~  FANTASTIC!!

Avrianna is doing great.  It's amazing to me how fast time is going with her.  We were driving to the High School the other day to drop her off for dive practice and she had the nerve to tell me...."guess what mom?  In 3 yrs I'll be going to school here".  Ummm, WHAT?!?!  Where is the time going...is there a stop button or at least a Pause?  I'm so proud of her, she does so well in everything she does.
Ringing Chimes ~

Doing a 1 1/2 ~

I think I have found the right balance now to be able to not be in so much pain or in a fog with my daily living.  It's a great feeling and I hope it will continue :)  I've been so well I'm even walking on the treadmill more.  The only real frustrating part is with me exercising and really making an effort to watch what I eat.....I have not lost ANY weight!  REALLY?!?  I have made an appt to see a health coach to see if they can help me on improving my diet and exercise so I do safely and healthy.  I don't want to "diet" per se I want to make a life change not only for me, but for my family.  I know that they believe MS and many other disorders come from environmental.  I have MS, Fibro, Hypothyrodism, I'm border line diabetic and high cholesterol, and labeled obese.  I know alot of my weight issues come from the meds I'm on and the disorders that make it VERY hard to lose weight, but I'm worth trying to improve myself whenever I can.  I'm optimistic that I will be able to control my health issues better if I  do better for myself.  I'm not looking at starving myself, or run a marathon, or be a model....I just want to be better in whatever sense it comes from.

Can you believe it?  Dan and I are going to go out on an over nighter,  just the two of us.  This was no small feet to accomplish, but it's going to happen.  Between our amazing nurses to coordinate around the clock care and then having Avrianna hang out at a friends house. I'm pretty excited!  I'm sure the kids won't be bothered at all that we are gone, but I'm sure I will have some anxiety not being with Danny.  I can count on one hand how many (3x) nites have NOT been with Danny.  The last time Dan and I were together alone overnight was for our birthdays in Sept 2002, 3 weeks before Avrianna was born.  I think we are due :)  Everyone says whatcha going to do......SLEEP, lol!  I hope....I'm Danny's mom, nurse, caregiver ~ however you want to to look at it ~ over night so I can't remember the last time I've slept through the nite without having to get up, I'm usually up at least 3x with him through on average nite.

Recovering & Recap

Danny and I came home Monday the 14th around 3pm......6 days post op!! I couldn't have even imagined that we would have been home that soon or that he would be doing this well. Danny is doing amazing!! While at home he has needed some Ibuprofen more regularly as we are moving him and repositioning more but other then that there's been alot of smiles and alertness coming from him. It's so wonderful to see him like this....not just in general, but definitely right after major surgery. Everyone that sees him says how GOOD he looks and how much more alert n aware he is. I'm so glad it shows to others, and I'm not being just an overzealous Momma. I have my BOY back and better then ever!! I was so unsure that he would EVER be the boy that I knew he can be. He has been showing off his likes and dislikes more and I love it.  I just need to figure out what it is he is barking about and when we do he will smile as if to say ~ "Thank you." Danny was in a rough patch this last year as it seemed as if he was fading away. There wasn't much behind those baby blue eyes. I honestly didn't know what kind of quality of life was in his future and that scared me to know end. But to see him now after all that he has been through in the last 2 weeks I can honestly say he has the best quality of life ahead of him. And as I stated in my last post with significantly less time in the OR. YAY!! Danny is already tolerating all of his nutrition via G-tube, the only TPN needed for him was the few days between surgeries...and I'm not sure he really needed it, but I didn't want to push his gut as I'm used to it going into the deep sleep after anesthesia. NOT THIS TIME!! He is peeing like a champ ALL ON HIS OWN and will even have a BM all on his own too. Now that is something that is just unheard of for Danny unless he is on antibiotics. Can you tell him excited!! All good things have come from this chapter in his life. I guess I just need to prepare myself for the absolute worst and whala Danny goes and proves me wrong. I'LL TAKE IT!! I'll be the first to admit when I'm wrong and I'm so glad I was. Way to go Danny!!
Here are some of the photos taken during the last few weeks. Some of them are pretty graphic so brace yourself.
BEFORE VEPTR '10

After VEPTR '12

After Back Fusion '13

**Xrays **

Before VEPTR '10

After VEPTR '12

After Fusion '13

Before surgery I had all of us wear our PROUD t-shirts and pose with Danny ;) ~  We are all VERY PROUD!!

 Ms Gail

 Ms Keren

Ms Aleana

Ms Lisa

The Morning of the Back Fusion..... ALL smiles.  I was so glad he was so healthy and strong, but man did it bother me that we were going to do this when he was in such a good place

 Heading down into the OR, sporting his fireman hospital gown and hat

 Ms Gail and my mom came down to sit with me while Danny was in the 10 hr surgery.  We went out to lunch to The Cheesecake Factory.  It was so nice to break up the day....PLUS we were able to have alil celebration for Ms Gail.  An early Birthday treat, YUMMY!

 We LOVE YOU!

 Can you tell how impressed with me she was...that she was sung to, LOL

 The first time we saw his back.....a few minutes after coming up from the OR

 His poor face, lips, n tongue were extremely swollen from laying on his belly for 10 hrs during the surgery and with all the fluids they gave him everything pooled down to gravity.

 Ms Gail giving Danny a pep talk n a smoochie before they had to leave to go back home

 I had to wear my new tshirt.....It was definitely a hit!!  I got so many comments they day I wore it

 Day 2 post op and the swelling is going down and his eyes are open :)

 Post Op  day 3 and the swelling is gone and he's all smiles again ~ I'm so PROUD of him

 Look who's sitting in his chair already and loving it

 Ms Gail thought Danny had to have this monkey..........those EYES!!

 Nanny said he needed a superhero balloon as he is her Hero!

 On Friday afternoon he went back in the OR and about an hour later he was back in the room sporting a new and bigger baclofen pump

 First dressing change and first time I got to really see the surgery work ...post op day 3 just after he came up from the OR for the pump.  We thought it would be nicer on Danny if we did it while he was still loopy from the OR.  We thought right!!

 Post Op day 1 from the pump and they took the dressing off already.  Looking good!!  Other then he got a blister right above his belly button.  I can only assume, as I wasn't there when they took the dressing off, is that they used the wrong adhesive remover and his blistered.  He will blister right infront of your eye immediately if you don't use the right one

 Post op day 5 and looking GREAT!

 Monday afternoon Post Op day 6 around 1:30 he was buckled up and ready to GO HOME!!

So comfy chillaxing in his OWN big boy bed :)

 Post Op day 11 and still a CHAMP!!  Most of his sterie strips are already off, his incisions are closed and most of them healed over already.  Really, Danny??  AMAZING!!

We are right back into reality, with last week finishing tons of paperwork and making appts.  I LOVE IT!!  Everyday Danny continues to get stronger, heal, and amaze us even more.  GO DANNY!!

We did have a mishap this last week.....with Avrianna.  At Dive practice on Thursday nite she hit the water pretty hard on her last dive.  She said she was pretty dizzy and her head hurt.  I guess it was a pretty impressive smack, I wasn't there to see it, but Dan was.  The next morning she continued to have a headache so I called our buddy Dr Kasper.  He felt she probably has a minor concussion, so she needed to take it easy the next 2 weeks as another minor head injury could result in major brain injury.  This normally wouldn't be an issue, BUT this Sunday is the ONE and ONLY dive meet that she was to attend and now she can't go.  She's pretty disappointed about it, but I keep telling here that there will be other meets.  I don't want to take any chances with her noggin,  So she's going hang out and chillax the next few days.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baclofen pump replacement

Danny is now done with going back into the OR. This is something I can't even wrap my brain around. Here's a boy that has had aprrox 30 surgeries already in his lifetime and now there is NONE in sight. The only thing I can think of is replacing the baclofen pump again in six more years. Oh, what will we do with ourselves. I just can't fathom Danny not needing any more surgeries. How awesome is that?!? I do believe I will find better things to due with our time, then hanging out in the hospital. I'm just so excited!! Now NO ONE can tell Danny this, as I'm sure he'll find something to throw at us. Mums the word .... You hear me?! Yesterday's baclofen pump replacement was text book. In and out within about an hour. They went in through the old scar and popped the old pump out of the pocket it sat in. Seeing the catheter wasn't damaged or displaced during the spinal fusion they didn't need to monkey around with that. Which was great as if they were going to do anything with the catheter they would have had to reopen part of the fusion incision. EEEECK!!! The new pump is alil bigger then the old one. His last pump was held 20 and this one is the 40. It's just alil bigger in size but holds double the medicine. So they needed to cut the pocket open to allow more room for the bigger puck. They closed him up and he's now good to go for another 6 yrs. For alil boy that has 2 ver painful surgeries, you wouldn't know it. Today all he's had for pain control is 1 dose of Tylenol. Yes you heard me, AMAZING! He's been pretty wretchy today, which you think would be very painful as half of his tummy is opened up and his back is ...... Well there isn't much of it that doesn't have an incision across it. If you were to just see the body he's in pretty rough shape, but look at the boy you'll see something pretty astonishing. He continues to show off for the medical staff and to his mommy n daddy. I had really thought this was going to be a VERY VERY long haul not only in the hospital, but also the recovery time at home. Hell I wasn't sure I'd ever have the same Lil boy I know and love, after His body was abused like this. But he is showing off, don't tell him what he can and can't do. Really the only "problem" we have run into is his bowels, hence the bloated tummy and him being wretchy. The poor dude has gotten 3 enemas in the last few days along with me massaging his tummy and ......NOTHING. The Dr tried to "help" the process this am, but really no results came of that. So instead of another enema or a molasses enema (gross, but very effective- you'll never look at a cookie the same way again) they put in a rectal tube. We did get some results from that so looks like we'll hold off on the molasses for now. Danny's issues are due to a very tight rectum so they are checking into possibly doing Botox, down yonder, to help him. It just floors me how in the world he can't push out liquid. Cuz his stool is always very loose but he just won't let it out. Pretty talented if you ask me......I can't do it, lol. As it is now, we are still looking at being discharged on Monday already, again I'm flabbergasted. I had planned and prepared to be here at least 2 maybe 3 weeks and here we are going home after 6 days......6 DAYS!! He tolerates, and enjoys being in his chair, he's incisions are doing fabulous, he's a ROCK STAR! Today Dan and Avrianna came down to visit us. It's so great to see them. I miss them So much. But I'm so happy they get along so well together that I don't have to worry when I'm not there. Those 2 are two peas in a pod. I couldn't have asked for a better father daughter relationship, then they have now. Now if they can keep it, that will be the true test....yes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree and they BOTH can be very hard headed and opinionated. I will have my work cut out for me :). Yesterday Danny and I had a surprise visit from Ruthie and Pastor Mode from the church we looking at joining, Our Savior's. It was so nice to see them. It warmed my heart they took time out of their busy schedules to come down and meet US. I have NEVER so much as received a visit, phone call, or letter from the church I grew up in and my children are members since we were all born for any of the hospitalizations that my family have gone through. And here's a church that went out of their way to meet my main Lil Man. Only good thing can from this church, I feel. They are very welcoming, friendly, and have tons going on for the children. So far I like what I see. Tonight Avrianna is performing in church with the chimes. Yes, miss busy body has taken on chimes in church and the youth choir on top of Sunday school and she's loving it :). I really wish I could have been there for her first time, but there will be other times and I guess Dan is entitled to a few firsts too :! Thanks for following us. Your support and prayers have been greatly appreciated. You guys have helped me through some pretty rough and scary times. I don't know what I would do without you. I hope to be updating my next post from the comforts of my home. I will update with the photos of our hospital stay once we are home. As the hospital network doesn't allow me to download pictures on the blog, but I have posted many of the pics o. FB, if you want to check them out sooner. Off to get some dinner and ice cream (YES! Froedert got ice cream back in the cafe). Then I'm going to chill out in Danny's bed to watch the Packer game and some episodes of Dallas. Yes, I went out and got the whole collect of the 14 seasons of "Dallas". It kinda neat to watch these now that I'm older. Avrianna is even getting into watching them.

Fusion

Yesterday was the BIG day! We were admitted on Monday afternoon into Rm#407. It was so nice to be able to come in the night before and get settled in. It's so difficult to be here at 6am. Seeing we were admitted earlier, We were able to get Danny's baclofen Pump increased to help with spasticity and spams for the back fusion, Danny got all of his breathing treatments done early before they took him down into the OR, and we both got a good nites sleep. Man yesterday could have been even more draining if I would have has to get up at 2ish to do all his cares and get on the road early enough to be here on time. The waiting game was very difficult. My mom and Danny's nurse, Gail, came down to sit with me during the surgery. We went out for lunch to The Cheesecake Factory which was a nice break from the hospital life and staring at the clock. They wheeled Danny down to the OR at 8:30am, about every 2 hrs they called me with a progress report, and 10 hrs later I got to see those handsome cheeks again. It was a shocker to see him at first as his face was SO swollen. When you lay flat on your tummy for that long, and they give you fluids all the fluid pools. So those round cheeks were even more round with the biggest lips/tongue I've ever seen. Thankfully, most of all the swelling has already gone away in the last 24 hrs. Danny did amazing in the OR room. He behaved himself and listened to his mommy. As I told him to NOT give the Drs grief. He required only 1 blood transfusion which that alone is a shocker. They had thought at least 2 or 3 units would have been needed. The only real hiccup...if you call it that, is his bones are very soft. Softer then they had thought. So more screws were needed to get the stationary rods to seed in. If I remember correctly the surgeon said Danny is now the proud owner of 24 screws and 4 hooks along with the 2 rods, one on each side of his spine. I am really interested in seeing what his back looks like. His whole back is bandaged up so I can only imagine what it looks like under there. I didn't realize that to remove the VEPTR rods the surgeon had to reopen the old incisions...the two large ones up on his shoulder blades and the two large ones on his hips. So he has those 4 incisions and one very large one that runs from his neck all the way down to his bumm. He has 2 drains coming out of his back right now, but they should come out on Friday along with a dressing change so I will be able to see what his back looks like. The true visual will be the first full X-ray. I know I'm weird but I like to see everything we are dealing with. Tomorrow PT will be coming in to sit him up and then we will transfer into his chair for about an hour. Is that not amazing! His back has been filleted open, screwed with (literally), and they are going to sit him up and put him in his chair within day 2. Wow!! What's more Surprising to me is, I bet he could have done it already today. He is already off all iv pain meds, he has tolerated all position changes without so much as a moan, he has even coughed and nothing but smiles. He's been awake and smiley ALL day. I really don't think he understands the magnitude of his surgery yesterday. He is a ROCK STAR!! I am speechless with how well he is doing. Heck everyone is pleasantly surprised with my super man. Makes me wonder if the VEPTR rods were that uncomfortable to him that now he feels better. I'm not sure why he is doing so great, but I'll take it!! I'm kinda scared for Friday. As he is going back in the OR in the afternoon to have his baclofen pump replaced. This is to be the easier surgery of the 2 and I'm just afraid we are going to awake the sleeping giant and things will get nuts. I hope that he continues to prove me wrong and comes out of this next surgery doing amazing too. We will be home in no time if this recovery process stays on course. I shouldn't even taunt myself with the big discharge word as I know all too well how bad things could turn around here, but with what I've seen from Danny today one can't help themselves to get excited. Woot woot. Go Danny!! Dan came down to see his rock star son today. I am so glad Danny is doing so well and got to strut his stuff off to his daddy. I know Dan was pretty worried, as we all were. Dan and Avrianna are coming down on Saturday to visit. I hope he can show off for his sister too. She would be totally excited if I could tell her we will be home sooner then later. She really loves and worries about her Lil brother. She's so good to him :) Thanks for stopping by and checking on Danny. All of your thoughts and prayers have worked. I am forever grateful for your support. Stay tuned for round 2 in a few days