Update #157

So I'm a horrible person. Okay, not horrible person, just horrible blogger.

Yes, it's been more than two weeks since the last Dave Update. And honestly, in the midst of doctors' appointments and laundry and...well, we'll get to that last "and" in a minute.

First, after asking for prayer for Caleb, I feel awful for not telling you sooner that he is doing fine. The surgery went well, and he was home recovering after only two days in the hospital. The whole fam came over for dinner the other night, and not only is he one of the cutest babies ever, he is also one of the happiest and more normally developing I have ever met, so from my expert medical perspective, at least, the surgery was a success. :-)

As for Dave, things are picking up again, so much so, in fact, that you may actually get more than one post every two weeks. First, Dave moved his foot! Yes, I know, I thought we were past the updates on "mundane" tasks too, but remember foot drop? The EMG that said Dave had no nerve activity in his left shin, which was making it impossible for him to flex his foot toward his face? Yeah, he flexed his foot. We were at the Podiatrist's office the other day, and while we were waiting for Dr. Adams to come in, Dave was dangling his feet from the exam table, so I asked if he could flex his left foot. And he did! Talk about surprised! He did it again and again, but I have to admit that in our disbelief, I actually waited until Dr. Adams came in and asked her to confirm that Dave was, in fact, moving his foot before I actually believed that the foot drop might be getting better (pretty sure she thinks I'm crazy now...).

The reason that Dave was visiting the Podiatrist, by the way, is because on top of everything else, he has ingrown toenails. Lucky him. So, after a minor toenail clipping didn't solve the problem, he had the pleasure of having an ingrown toenail procedure that, fortunately for you, I can't describe in detail because even after everything that I have held Dave's hand through in the past eight months, and after everything he has experienced, neither he nor I could watch what the doctor did to his feet without getting nauseated. Yeah, we're wusses.

Hmm...how does that song go again? The foot bone's connected to the toe bone, the toe bone's connected to the thigh bone...maybe I need to check my anatomy book. Anyway, moving up from Dave's feet...well...he's having surgery on his femur again. After more than eight months with the rod and pins in place to fix the fracture, Dave's leg still hasn't healed. The description from Dr. Archdeacon, Dave's Orthopedic Surgeon? "Because the fracture hasn't healed, the rod could break. It doesn't generally happen in the first year, but it does happen, and if it breaks, the surgery is a whole lot harder. So you could wait a few more months..." I think we'll go with surgery. Anyway, assuming Dr. Muskat, his Trauma Surgeon, agrees that the surgery would be a good idea, he's scheduled for Friday at noon. The surgery will last approximately two hours and involves removing the current rod and replacing it with a new, larger rod that should help stimulate healing. The procedure does include an overnight at UC, but Dave will be up on his leg again as soon as he wakes up. Pretty incredible if you ask me. Hopefully, the new hardware will also help to resolve the residual pain he is experiencing in his leg and hip.

Finally, the "and" that I mentioned above - because we don't have enough going on already, Dave and I got a puppy. A word of warning in hindsight: if you aren't prepared to get a puppy today, don't start "casually browsing" the Pets section on Craig's List. His name is Baza, affectionately named for the 135 tubes of cream that we have used to protect the skin around Dave's wound, and he is adorable (we might be a little biased, but he did get a lot of attention at PetSmart where we stopped to get food on the way home). He is half beagle, that much we know. The other half is unknown, although he has the coloring of a rottweiler...good thing he has small paws or we could have a monster on our hands. Anyway, for any animal lovers out there, we will gladly post pictures soon. For anyone who turns green at sappy pet owners who coo about how cute their animals are...well, we'll still post the pictures, but you can ignore them...or post mean comments about them if you prefer. :-)

So I think that's the long and short of the past two weeks. Caleb is doing well, Dave is having surgery, and our puppy has to pee. I should go take care of that...

By the way, Sarah already texted me to let me know that she will be at the hospital with me on Friday. Maybe one day, she and I will get to hang out somewhere other than a waiting room. Keep praying!