David Shares the Bump In the Road

It was one month - four weeks today - that our lives changed forever. We immediately felt so much love and caring from each of you and in that time, we’ve had many more moments of gratitude than piles of shit. Unfortunately, the piles of shit aren’t going away and one of the larger ones was dealt to us on Friday.

I asked David to explain what happened:

“Things became very busy for me on Friday afternoon (he said sardonically). My surgical site opened during OT on Friday, and the staff jumped into action when they realized it. I was rushed back to my room, put in my bed, and I got to meet all sorts of people - including Dr. Frankel, the attending neurosurgeon from Piedmont…It’s frustrating to deal with this set back and it is going to affect my therapy for some degree, given that I’ll now have fresh work on my neck that will need to heal before I’ll be able to get into rehab as hard as I was trying to do.”

So after almost four weeks, the wound on the back of David’s neck opened - which we understand happens if there is an infection. As he alluded, David was immediately ordered on bed rest, the staff swarmed to look at the wound and treat it, and started doing regular blood tests to check for infection. Unfortunately, this morning his temperature went into fever territory and the decision was made to begin to treat this with antibiotics in anticipation for surgery on Monday (tomorrow). 

Thankfully, Erika’s Aunt Elaine and cousins Jeff & April came down from Charlotte to Atlanta to spend the weekend with David. I asked David to share a bit about the cards that he’s received. “Elaine opened up the whole bunch of cards that came in. It’s remarkable how many people are reaching out - everyone from Aunt Elaine’s sister-in-law in Nebraska to cards from friends in the neighborhood that came in one big package - all of which are so wonderful to read. The expressions of support have just come from all over and they really help me feel good - they are so very special to read.” 

David and I have been asked by a friend to confirm that tomorrow will be the last Monday surgery at Piedmont - something that I can only hope to say yes to. He’ll go in for the procedure tomorrow afternoon. The plan from Dr. Frankel is to clean out the wound and suture him back up. Thankfully, we have another friend who was coming through Atlanta tomorrow to pay David a visit and now he’ll be able to be at Shepherd to welcome David back from the trip through the tunnel. 

Meanwhile, back in Chevy Chase, we were so thankful to have my college roommate Rebecca holding down the fort from last Tuesday through today, picking up the torch from our friend Regina and my cousin Mark who stayed with the boys when my gallbladder kept me in Atlanta. Rebecca and Colin even made two different kinds of gluten free cookies for the BCC music boosters bake sale this weekend.

Ultimately I made it home early afternoon Thursday - and my goodness, was it good to be home with them. 

I’ll plan on a short note tomorrow to let you know about David’s procedure - thanks for hanging with us and keep the love and cards coming.