Paddling Hard Under the Surface

While we’ve been quiet this week, there’s been a lot happening - and we wanted to catch you up!

First, an update from Atlanta: 

David’s progress from surgery continued this week, albeit more slowly than of course he wants. David’s neurosurgeon Dr. Frankel came back a couple times to check on him, including on Thursday to remove the drains from the restitched surgical site. Because of the infection in the wound, David will now need to be on some hard core antibiotics for 6-8 weeks - and to help with that process, they put in a big IV line on his arm that will have to stay in the whole time.  

BUT we also had a major bucket checked: David left the Shepherd campus yesterday for the first time. David and a few others rolled up into the Shepherd Center van and headed over to Jeni’s Ice Cream. He reported that his selection included brown butter and almond, milk chocolate, and salted peanut butter with chocolate flecks (!!!). Unfortunately, while he was looking forward to a trip to Atlanta’s Botanical Gardens today, at the last minute the nurses told him he couldn’t because of the need for those IV antibiotics. A real disappointment - and no doubt something that will impact other potential outings in the coming weeks. Thankfully Brother Jake is down in Atlanta this weekend to keep David’s spirits high and the two of them will enjoy this sunny day in Atlanta with a high of 77 degrees. 

Now for the other updates: there’s been a whole lot of paddling under the surface this week. First, I went back to work! It felt a bit strange - and hard - to log on Monday morning but seeing my colleagues on Zoom, learning just how much this incredible group of people did to pick up my work for me while I was out was just inspirational and frankly, the gratitude and feelings I felt were a bit overwhelming. By the end of the day, my juices were flowing; on Tuesday, I had meetings on the Hill and it felt normal and really good to be back. 

Speaking of really good - we need to look forward to a celebration: please save the date for Friday, May 29! Planning is underway for a celebration for David & fundraiser with Babycat Brewery in Kensington between 6:30-8:30. David and I (and some of you!) have had a lot of fun times at Babycat and we’re looking forward to many more. 

Next, we are working with 2 incredible architects who are creating plans for changes to our first floor, and to turn our garage into a new accessible primary suite. (More to come on the architects another day because it is a goose bump worthy small world situation - and they are donating their professional services to us, for which I cannot be more grateful.) All of this will mean we’ll be moving out of our house while the work is being done. That in turn will require a massive purge of stuff (apparently my mom’s and David’s dad’s genes are strong as there is a lot that we need to part with). 

That will be where I hope friends living in the area will come and help. We are planning different hands on activities for different weekends in April and May - everything from packing to purging to prepping for moving to building ramps and other. We’re waiting to nail down a few details over the weekend but should know more soon - hopefully this week. 

Finally, I wanted to take a moment to share some pictures from my friend and former boss, Paul. He and his wife Teresa are doing retirement right and traveling around Central America. Paul has been sending incredible shots with the #TeamSward logo, which has been a morale boost for me to see. 

Thank you all for your continued support. It’s both exciting and a bit scary to be planning all of these details for David’s eventual return to his job AND to our “new” and improved home - but I have no doubt we’ll continue to be supported by each of you. 

In gratitude, 

Erika & David 

PS. Cards and notes are still VERY welcome. If you are in need of the address just hit reply and a member of Team Sward will make sure you get it!