Friday, Dec 26, 2014

Friday, December 26

Posted Dec 26, 2014 10:16pm

Today I had a foot surgery. I needed it done and since we had met our deductible, I went for it. I have never had a surgery that I remembered. When I was 9 months old, I swallowed a peanut and had surgeries; and when I was 7 or so I had my tonsils out. I remember the hospital stay and the popsicles. So needless to say the "being put out" and waking up with it all done was something else.

Dave was helping a valued customer so Jessica dropped me off and picked me up. I slept for about 3 hours when I got home and now I keep a boot on as a cast per se. The numbing medicine is still in the toe so I'm not in too much pain and I have pain medicines.

Joe is doing so well. He can bend down ( a modified bend down) and pick things up off the floor. He is almost completely off the oxycodon. Maybe 1 pill a day which has helped all other parts of his body.

I honestly would not have believed it without seeing it how fast the body heals. His "steri-strips" are almost all off and the before and after on his back photos are incredible. I would post them but the after shows the scar and some may not want to see that.
But if you want to see before and after just text me (970) 210--4794 and I'll send to you. Joe's friends included as I feel confident you would not "post" the photos for all to see.

Stamina and being able to sit in a chair besides a recliner will be the two things we hope to gain strength in over the next 10 days before school begins again.

He would love to go see the movie Unbroken, but I'm not sure how he would handle the sitting. So we'll see.

Thanks for your continued prayers. We appreciated all of you so much!

Treasure Hunt - Dec 25 2014

We get away with very few surprises in our family so it is always fun when we can pull one off.  Jessica and I love Black Friday shopping.  As we get older and as Black Friday evolves, it hasn't been quite as fun - but we have a system and it works well.  Wal-Mart had 50" TVs in their one hour only sale for 189.00.  I believe it was from 6pm to 7pm.  So first of all we don't head out until about 6:20 p.m. so that we will arrive at 6:30 p.m.  We had two items we wanted in the one hour special.  One - the tv- we received a voucher for and the other Beats headphones we were able to go home with.  Black Friday is worthy of a whole other post so I won't go into those details.  I got the big tv so that Dave could use it as a Computer Monitor on his desk.

I have recently begun reading blueprints and doing "take offs" for jobs.  We are constantly enlarging areas of the blueprints to see where the windows are and to read the fine print.  So a big computer monitor would be a great plus in this area.  Well Dave knew we didn't need any more tvs and I don't think he was thinking computer monitor, so he could not figure out what that gigantic present under the tree for him was.  He worked hard on Ben hoping to get him to crack but Ben stood firm.  Jessica and Ben decided to "hide" the present after Dave had gone to bed on Christmas Eve.   They then set up a treasure hunt for him to follow the next morning.

When Dave got up in the morning, of course he wanted to know where his present was.  He was sure it was in Jessica's room as hers was the only room he didn't really go into without being invited first.  We had to wait for all three kids to get up (remember Joe had just had spine surgery 15 days prior.)

Finally when all were up and we were ready the clues were laid out.

CLUE ONE
Wondering where your present has gone?
Moving it took a great deal of brawn.
Again, you'll see your precious prize
Solve these clues for your surprise.

CLUE TWO
If opening your present is what you wish,
Go to what will wash your dish.

No photo  - dishwasher

CLUE THREE
Oh the prices for this are falling.
The petroleum engineers are bawling,
Now you know where to go,
I hope you enjoy the snow.

CLUE FOUR
There's one more place to look,
It's a place you like to cook.
Not the ordinary spot.
Operate this, I cannot.

CLUE FIVE
You're messing with some brilliant minds
Whose talent has been well spent
Go to where you keep the blinds
And uncover your present

It was hiding under all those black bags full of bubble wrap.  He had even tried to look in the garage that morning and hadn't seen it.  It was a good surprise.

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2015

Tuesday, December 23

Posted Dec 23, 2014 6:48pm

Today is Joe's 15th birthday. Good thing we celebrated early as we are all a bit laid back today. Dave is in Ignacio and then Cortez and then back home later tonight.

Jess, Joe and I went to the DMV in hopes of getting Joe's permit, but there was a medical question on there and I told the truth. So now we have to wait to get his permit until the doctor signs off on a medical form. We knew he wasn't cleared to drive yet, but we were hoping to begin the one year of holding your permit timeframe. Oh well, in the grand scheme of life having to wait a few months is not too big of a deal. I felt bad but Joe understands so all is good.

Jessica made Joe a cake from scratch and we are ordering in Olive Garden for supper so we are celebrating in a low-key kind of way.

Have a very happy holiday. I am going in for foot surgery on Friday, the 26th so I'm not sure how much I will be updating. But we will definitely update if we need specific prayers.

Well I just watched our dog get sick and I see that while we were at the DMV, he broke through the gates and ate almost 2 pounds of fudge. So I guess we'll update you next time on whether or not we still have a dog too.

Saturday, Dec 20, 2014

Saturday - 12/20/2014

Posted Dec 20, 2014 12:35pm

Good morning. It's 10:30 a.m. and I haven't seen a child yet. I'm beginning to hear rumblings - but finally Ben is on break too. Enjoy your break - Jess, Joe and Ben. Joe continues to make strides every day. The pain has lessened. The scar is healing. He gains a little more mobility each day. Boredom is tough right now though. One can only sit in a recliner for so long. He does go for walks regularly, but he is still building up his stamina.

I know if someone would have told me all that he would be doing 10 days out from surgery, I don't know if I would have believed it. Now that being said, they did say some children are up and doing things much sooner than others. I knew he had the resolve to get up and get going. So I believed he'd be on the "sooner" end, but my goodness do you know what they did to him in surgery???!!!??? And look at him now - unbelievable. Thank God that God designed the body to heal itself.

We will see if he feels well enough today to get a side by side picture with his sister Jessica. If and when he does, I'll post the photo. Thanks for your continued prayers. Our follow up visit is scheduled for the first day back to school - Tuesday, January 6. We figured it would be easier to miss the first day of the semester than 1 or 2 weeks in. Also since Monday there is no school, we have the leeway of using that day for travel if needed.

Thursday, Dec 18, 2014

Thursday, December 18

Posted Dec 18, 2014 1:00pm

Today is what them call in the On Line world Throwback Thursday. I will be glad when I can look back at today as a Throwback Thursday. Recovery is still going well, it's just kind of up and down. We are trying to cut back on the pain medicine. When I do, then we go backwards just a little. So it's just working through pain (on Joe's part.) Today we were able to go 6 hours between instead of 4 hours between - so that's good. And then I remind myself it has only been ONE week since surgery. Of course he is going to hurt.

Every day he can do more. For instance to put his shirt on, he does not have full mobility to raise his arms over his head, so he needs a little help. Each day it gets a little easier though.

We took the bandage off last night. I have a friend (a mother of one of Joe's friends) who is a nurse. I forwarded her the photos and she called me to let me know she thought it looked good. Today I also sent those to the Spine nurse at Children's, but I was glad my friend was available at 7:00 last night. I'm not sure everyone would want to see those photos, so I probably won't post - but it's quite impressive.

Last night it hurt to take deep breaths which is a reminder to us that we HAVE to keep up on the spirometer and the walks. I'll try to get a picture of the spirometer so you can see how that works.

There are so many pieces to this puzzle.

I'll be glad when Ben is out of school. Right now I get Ben up and take him to school and then crash again until Joe gets up. One thing that is nice at this point of the recovery is that I can put the 2 am or 4 am pills in Joe's room and he sets an alarm and takes them. I don't have to get up and go upstairs and give them to him. I still do wake up, but it's easier this way.

Keep those prayers coming. I realized today that if I don't get Carter's Xmas present taken care of today, that poor little boy may not get it in time. I kind of feel like Xmas is over because we decorated before Thanksgiving and we bought all our gifts on Black Friday. So Grandma Deb - (Grandma to Carter) - know that I am trying today to get that checked off on my list. That and pay the sales tax for our business. HA. That's kind of important also.

Have a great day everyone.

Tuesday, Dec 16 ,2014

Tuesday, December 16

Posted Dec 16, 2014 11:04pm

I am so incredibly tired, but I wanted to try and post a little bit. Joe slept great last night. I got up at 2 to make sure he took his medicine and his alarm was going off and he was awake. Then I got up at 6 again and he was actually getting up to take it. He slept again until 9:30 a.m.

He is eating a little more today and he went for two walks outside with Jessica and then he walks within the house. He took a shower today also. Tomorrow the bandaid comes off (the steri-strips stay on).

His Honors Lit class made him a card and all signed it, so I went and picked that up for him today. That was so nice of them all.

He really perks up when his friends get home from school and he can talk to them via X-box. We are trying to wean off the oxycodone slightly, but he feels it when I take it down a dose.

Dave and crew went to Ignacio (near Durango) today to begin installing the first floor (of three) at the Growth Fund building. He said his drive over Red Mountain was pretty snowy and on Friday when they return, they will probably go through Utah.

I had a list of 6 things to do and I got one done. Oh well. I'm slowly getting laundry done and suitcases unpacked as well as mail opened and business taken care of. I'll post more photos tomorrow.

Released - Yeah! Dec 15, 2014

Released - Yeah! December 15

Posted Dec 15, 2014 9:47pm

I got up early again and got over to the hospital by 6 am. Joe and Jess were sleeping. Joe had a good night but was still on oxygen and the nurse was a little concerned about the cough. She was going to bring this up to the ortho team when they stopped by.

We ordered some breakfast while we waited for the doctors to come by. They came by around 8ish (which is later than normal.) The resident doctor on call (who had seen us on Thursday and Friday) came by. He was real pleased and said we could be discharged. He was not too concerned about the oxygen. He said if we could cut down on the oxycodone, it would help with his oxygen and he should do the spirometer at every commercial (if he were watching tv). He did not think an xray was needed for the cough. (We have been home for 3 hours now and I have hardly heard Joe cough - so that's good.)

Dr. Erickson's physicians' assistant also came by - Ryan Ballard. He too was pleased and he wished us well. We got our walking papers and instructions at about 10:00 (when he also received a good dose of meds.) Right when we were going over our discharge papers, a volunteer came in the room and said, "This next week we will have some celebrity's visiting the hospital and so we need a photo consent form signed." Too bad we were leaving, huh? The nurse was like "Who, who.???" The volunteer didn't know who.

After we had everything we needed, they said we could leave as soon as we were ready. I said, "Doesn't he need to be wheeled out in a wheelchair?" They were like, "No." Aren't you going to walk us out? Again, No. I said, geez when I had a baby, I couldn't walk out to my car. I had to be wheeled out to my car. They were like, "No, he can walk to the car. And so he did.

We forget things sometimes, like he was way too tall to get in the car without ducking his head and it hurt to duck his head. So we tried to help by pushing on his head -- not a good idea. STOP pushing my head, Joe says. Oh yeah.

We stopped about once an hour. One gas station desk clerk asked Jessica if Joe was blind. Joe was like, Hmmm I had no cane and I was walking up and down the aisles unassisted. Kind of funny. But everyone was great to us and we made it home. He was in a lot of pain when we got home and he went upstairs to his bed for a couple of hours.

He's up now in the recliner watching tv. I'll get up through the night to give him his meds. If any of his friends are reading, you may stop by and visit for short amounts of time. I say short amounts because he's still on a lot of medicine that makes him sleepy. We know you have school too. If you need our address, just text Joe. When he's awake, he'll text you back.

I'll keep updating until we have our 4 week appointment.

Sunday, 12/14/14

Sunday, 12/14/14

Posted Dec 14, 2014 5:36pm

I get to sleep in the hotel room and Jess sleeps in the hospital room. So I've been getting up about 5 ish so that I can get to the hospital by 6 so I am here when the Resident doctor comes by. The nurse yesterday said that there has to be a medical reason to keep Joe here or insurance may not pay for today. I was wanting to stay today for two reasons - he couldn't sit up (long drive home.....) and Winter Weather Advisory for Vail all the way to Grand Junction.

I got here early and the doctor was the same doctor who had checked in with us yesterday. He felt like the "sitting" issue was grounds enough to stay today, but Joe would need to work on this all day today. As I type this Joe is sitting in the rocking chair. It's getting a little easier each time as he figures out how to position the pillows to be most comfortable.

He has NOT felt like eating today and that's not the best. He has had two small applesauces and one and a half pieces of toast. He felt very nauseous at about 7 am this morning so he's trying to be careful. He did ask me if we could ask Jessica to bring him a Starbucks when she comes back. We'll see as that can be very sweet.

He has sat in the chair two times for 30 minutes each time, then once for 90 minutes while he slept soundly and now he is in the chair again. The past couple of days his sleep has come in ten minuted intervals, despite all the pain medicine. So I am happy to see that his sleep is more restful today. Sleep will help his body to heal.

He has had to go back on oxygen today and he has to get off oxygen for us to be able to go home tomorrow. He needs a reading of 90 or above on his pulseox thingy. He falls into the 85-90 range pretty consistently. So we keep doing the spirometer and the walks - everything we know to do to get those lungs moving.

I have a picture of the incision site as he had a shower yesterday and they changed the dressing. If you are interested in that just e-mail me at pattydeters@msn.com or text me at (970) 210-4794 and I'll send it to you. I don't want to post that photo as not everyone would want to see that.

That's about it for now. I've been getting all my steps in every day as measured by my Fitbit, so that's good.

Thanks again for all your prayers and comments.

Saturday - 12/13/2014

Saturday - 12/13/2014

Posted Dec 13, 2014 12:59pm

With this surgery and recovery, there will be peaks and valleys. We accomplished a lot yesterday. Joe got up and walked the entire 6th floor surgery ward three times. He got up every time he needed to use the bathroom. He was able to put clothes on instead of the hospital gown. He is eating and he is not nauseous. The doctor said if he used to eat 2000 calories a day, he will need to eat 3000 calories a day for the full 6 months. He said it takes a lot of energy to grow bone.

Yesterday a hospital dog came by the room, but it was at the same time as physical therapy so he only got to basically see the dog and that was it. So we are hoping they bring a pet by again. Right after that and as Joe was walking the floor the FBI choir came through our floor and they were caroling. They are actually from the FBI. They left all the children a FBI ballcap.

We have had excellent care. The nurses and Clinical Assistants typically work 3 - 12 hour days in a row so we are working with new nurses last night and today as three days have gone by.

Joe was in a lot of pain through the night. He had a fever at one point, but it is gone. His lung capacity decreased and he was put back on oxygen. They gave him a shot of the morphine type medicine at 9pm last night (the medicine that had been in the pain pump.) They don't want to give that too often because all the narcotics work against the lungs capacity. So as painful as it is, we need to get up and walk or sit as much as possible today. Right now that is very painful and they are trying different chairs for him to sit in. If you just lay flat it flattens your lungs or something like that. And that is not good. We do NOT want pheumonia.

Seriously though he is so dang tall that for him to sit in a regular chair is a long way down to go. #tallpeopleproblems Hopefully today we will be able to have enough good moments that we can measure him and see how much he grew AND he's not done growing as his growth plates are not closed yet.

I am typing this from a desktop on the 6th floor by the laundry room. I'll try to post some photos from my phone when I go back to his room. Teresa is on her plane and headed back to Ohio so it is Jessica and I here with Joe. The plan is still Monday morning discharge.

I'll update again as we have time. Thanks again for the prayers. Patty

PS. Today for his room service breakfast I ordered him a Belgian waffle with a side of scrambled eggs. What he received was a bottle of water with two butters and two syrups and his scrambled eggs. Water/waffle . hmm. It worked out because Jessica had gone downstairs to order herself some pancakes. She asked for an order of pancakes but she only wanted 2 pancakes. So they gave her two orders of pancakes. lol. So Joe had pancakes.

Big Day Today - December 12, 2014

Big Day Today

Posted Dec 12, 2014 12:47pm

Today is a big day as far as recovery goes. So far today Joe has had his catheter removed, his pain pump turned off (is getting pain medicine orally though), and he walked all the way down the long hallway and back. The he sat up in a chair for 45 minutes. All of this and it is just 10:40 am here. Needless to say he is sleeping now.

Jessica and Teresa are going to spend some time together shopping while I stay with Joe. I have a friend coming to visit who has had this same surgery not too long ago. At this point it seems as we will be released Monday morning. The weather is beautiful now but a storm is projected for Saturday/Sunday in the mountains. So a Monday discharge will allow us to avoid the storm. We have a 4 hour drive home.

Dave is home with Ben now and Ben is missing all of us and we miss them too. We will update again. Thanks for all your comments and prayers.

Straightened for Success - December 11, 2014

Straightened for Success

Posted Dec 11, 2014 7:45pm

What do you get when you put:

13 wayward vertebrae in a room with
1 committed surgeon and
2 straight rods and
26 screws, and then combine
1 believing household and
1 strong young man?

A successful outcome for a long, healthy, active life for Joe Deters!!!

What used to be a "S" curve in his back (left to right) plus a reverse "C" curve (front to back) is now completely realigned and stabilized for a bright future! Joe is standing taller and getting stronger every hour.

Stay tuned for the final results of his post-op height (but he may be as tall as DAD now!).

Compare the two sets of x-rays (before and after) and see for yourself!

Auntee Teresa

Day After - December 11, 2014

Day After

Posted Dec 11, 2014 4:19pm

I am back at the hotel after taking a shower so I wanted to take a moment to update you all on Joe's progress. I stayed with him in his room last night. Every two hours the nurses came in and turned him on his side and gave him medicine. He had a pain pump where he could push the button when he needed an extra dose of medicine. He rarely pushed it through the night. He could push it once every 8 minutes so 7 times an hour and he pushed it about once every 2 hours. Needless to say by morning, he was hurting. The doctor determined it to be the fact that he got behind on pain control. He ordered oxycodon immediately and upped the amount of medicine that could be given Joe through the pump. Because the oxycodon is like taking a quadruple dose of Motrin we wanted to make sure Joe had some food in his stomach which by now was beginning to "wake up." So he ate a piece of dry toast. The medicine helped get the pain under control. This process was from about 6:30 a.m. to 9 ish.

He has two ivs - one in each hand. Makes it a bit uncomfortable. They did take blood this morning but i haven't heard back yet how the "counts" are. Physical therapy came by at 10ish. She got Joe to sit up on the side of the bed and even to stand up. He got pretty lightheaded but he did it. She comes back at 4. Todays goal is to get up out of the bed and to the rocking chair in the room to sit for a bit.

So many things going on. He can start eating today but only bland foods because we do NOT want him to throw up. They will stop the pain pump tonight but leave the catheter in until tomorrow.

Thanks for all the comments and prayers. We read all the comments to Joe and he is very aware of all the people praying for him. He told me to do a new Facebook update this morning to update everyone. I'll update again or ask Jessica or Teresa too.

Beginning Recovery - Dec 10, 2014

Beginning Recovery

Posted Dec 10, 2014 7:25pm

Joe's surgery went great. The surgeon was able to accomplish all that he set out to do. When Joe woke up in Recovery he was really itchy and his pain was at a 9. They ordered a drug for the itchy (which is a common side effect from all the anesthesia) and they gave him Morphine. The Morphine helped him sleep for a while. He was sleeping as they rolled him up to his room and he slept for about 2 hours more.

When he woke up, he did everything they asked him to do. He has a spirometer which he uses (you take deep breaths in). This will help him get off of the oxygen sooner. They are going to roll him on his side every two hours. He was just put on his right side.

They injected a medicine in his spine at the beginning of surgery that is helping to control the pain. That will work for 24 hours. He also has a button he can push for pain. You can push it once every 8 minutes. He's only pushed it once so far. He is determined to get better.

Jessica will go back to Golden tonight and come back here tomorrow. Dave will go home to Grand Junction tomorrow sometime.

I'm sleepy, but good. Thanks for all the prayers.

I'm definitely not as funny as Jessica.

Surgeon's Update Posted Dec 10, 2014 2:49pm

Surgeon's Update

Posted Dec 10, 2014 2:49pm

Surgeon Update: Surgery has ended. Surgeon is very happy. Neuro monitoring went well. Final test will be when he wakes up and moves fingers and toes, but looks good. Everything the surgeon wanted to accomplish he did accomplish. One hour before we can see him.

Updates - December 10, 2014

Updates

Posted Dec 10, 2014 1:41pm

1st update at 9:10 am -- Surgery began at 9. The iv went in great. Next update at 10:30 am.

2nd update: joe is stable. They are beginning to put screws in. Screws go in first and then the rods. Screws are going in at each vertebrae from T4 to L4 and they were only on the 2nd screw. Next update 11:15

3rd update: the rods are being set in place, his vitals are good. After rods are in place, Dr. E will close. Next update will be in about 45 min from Dr. E. He did A LOT of work, he will be sore. He took X-rays and everything looks great. After Dr. E talks to us it may be some time before we can see him in recovery.

Waiting for (go) Joe - December 10, 2014

Waiting for (go)Joe

Posted Dec 10, 2014 11:22am

It's here. The day of surgery. We woke around 3 this morning just to make sure we wouldn't be late for our 5:30 check in time. Dave and Holly Lippold met us at the hospital, completing Joe's in-hospital support network. After Joe checked in, we headed to the surgery waiting room. They allowed me to go back with him along with my dad and mom—good choice seeing as I'm hilarious.

Joe changed into his scrubs and was informed he even had to change his socks. Seeing as Joe is a giant and this is a Children's Hospital, as the attending anesthesiologist informed us, neither the bed nor the new socks fit him. As his feet hung off the bed and out of his socks, we waited for a myriad of nurses and attendings to come and speak with us.

As the nurses and attendings spoke to us about what the surgery had in store, we got word that my aunt Teresa and the Lippolds had food for us—lots of food. My first instinct as a college student was to run and get in line. I had to remind myself that this wasn’t college and my only competition was sitting right next to me (my parents). (And I can beat them).

I started reminiscing with Joe about my shoulder surgeries—more a cautionary tale. I had been sufficiently drugged into a semi-comitose state prior to surgery, but I was desperately clinging to my consciousness. The nurse had wheeled me into the surgery room, and it somehow registered to me that I would need to transfer from my bed to the operating table. I didn't want to burden anyone, so I decided I would get myself from the bed to the table. I began to try to sit up and maneuver myself between the two beds. The nurses told me, oh no, hun, we'll do that for you. There's no way you can do that alone! I'll help you, my drugged conscious thought. No really honey, we've got it.

And that's all I remember. I imagine the nurses whispered something like, knock her out, and the put in the final dose of anesthesia.

Anyways, back to Joe.

Joe was incredibly calm through it all. In fact the nurse told us Joe was the calmest, easiest patient she's seen. To keep Joe's brain working while we waited the nearly hour and a half for them to take him back to the operating room, I decided to ask him a series of thought-provoking questions. Here are some of our favorites:
*Why do they call it quicksand when it sucks you down slowly?
*If swimming is good for your shape, then why do whales look the way they do?
*If the #2 pencil is so popular, why is it still #2?
*If 4 out of 5 people suffer from diarrhea, does the fifth enjoy it?
*How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?

These incredibly deep and serious questions kept Joe, my parents and even the nurses laughing. They soon gave Joe his first dose of pills. We could tell they took effect because he found my jokes less and less entertaining. He got groggy quickly and was looking forward to taking a nice sleep during surgery.

Soon enough, 7:30 rolled around and it was time for Joe to roll out. We hugged him goodbye, I warned him to not try to help the nurses in getting him from his bed to the operating table, and we headed back to the waiting area. Needless to say, I beat my parents to the food and feasted on Panera.

Love you all! We so appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Jessica

**First Update from Surgery: Everything is going well. Joe’s IV went in easily. The surgery clock began at 9:00 am.

One Day Before

Today we picked Teresa up at the airport at 7:30 a.m.  We ate breakfast together and then headed across the street to Children's Hospital for our pre-op visit.

 They are very detailed and they have a Welcome greeter who greeted us and gave us the plan for the day.  She guided us to our different departments and answered our questions along the way.

First we went and Joe had his blood drawn.  This was to "type" his blood in case he needs a blood transfusion tomorrow.  Chance of this is 50%.  He then went to have xrays taken.  Teresa was able to be a part of that which she enjoyed as the X-ray tech in her came out.

We sat with the Nurse Suzy and she answered any questions we had.  We were then scheduled to meet with the physicians assistant, but we actually got to meet with the surgeon, Dr. Erickson.  He's awesome.  He talked to Joe first and then he asked us if we had any questions.  We found out that the fusion is from T4 to L4.  He will have two rods.   They will be screwed in at each vertebrae.

We were concerned with the Deters' triple jointedness they have (Dave, Jess, Joe).  This was an issue with Jessica's shoulder surgery so we pointed it out to Dr. Erickson.  Dr. Erickson said that the loose collagen will actually probably help him in aligning Joe's spine.  Yeah.

The schedule is as follows for tomorrow.  Arrive hospital 5:30 a.m. Mountain time.  We are with Joe until 7:30 a.m. at which time they will take him to the surgery room.  He'll have one hour (at best) of prep time in the surgery room and then surgery will begin at 8:30 ish.  Once surgery begins we need to allow 4 hours of surgery time and 2 hours of recovery time.  We can be with him in the recovery room.

Then 3 to 5 days of hospital stay.  Thanks again for all your prayers.

Day Before - Dec 9, 2014

Day Before

Posted Dec 9, 2014 5:48pm

Today we picked Teresa up at the airport at 7:30 a.m. We ate breakfast together and then headed across the street to Children's Hospital for our pre-op visit. They are very detailed and they have a Welcome greeter who greeted us and gave us the plan for the day. She guided us to our different departments and answered our questions along the way.

First we went and Joe had his blood drawn. This was to "type" his blood in case he needs a blood transfusion tomorrow. Chance of this is 50%. He then went to have xrays taken. Teresa was able to be a part of that which she enjoyed as the X-ray tech in her came out.

We sat with the Nurse Suzy and she answered any questions we had. We were then scheduled to meet with the physicians assistant, but we actually got to meet with the surgeon, Dr. Erickson. He's awesome. He talked to Joe first and then he asked us if we had any questions. We found out that the fusion is from T4 to L4. He will have two rods. They will be screwed in at each vertebrae.

We were concerned with the Deters' triple jointedness they have (Dave, Jess, Joe). This was an issue with Jessica's shoulder surgery so we pointed it out to Dr. Erickson. Dr. Erickson said that the loose collagen will actually probably help him in aligning Joe's spine. Yeah.

The schedule is as follows for tomorrow. Arrive hospital 5:30 a.m. Mountain time. We are with Joe until 7:30 a.m. at which time they will take him to the surgery room. He'll have one hour (at best) of prep time in the surgery room and then surgery will begin at 8:30 ish. Once surgery begins we need to allow 4 hours of surgery time and 2 hours of recovery time. We can be with him in the recovery room.

Then 3 to 5 days of hospital stay. Thanks again for all your prayers. We are reading all the comments. I wish there were a "like" button so you would know we saw the comments. I am posting a couple of photos too. More tomorrow.

Two Days Before

Monday, Dec 8.  Joe had to take an early morning math test (6:40 a.m. to be exact.)  Dave took him to school and went on to do some work.  I took Ben to school and said goodbye to him for a week.  Then I met Joe at his high school.  We touched base with the counselor and with the school nurses.

Joe and I came home and packed.  While I finished up packing and Dave finished up working, Joe played some soccer.

Here we are all loaded up - dog and all - ready to go to Denver (after dropping the dog off of course.)

A favorite place to eat is LarkBurger in Edwards.  We had to make that stop as it really blesses Joe.

Along the way, we always see this waterfall.  It was a little frozen this time.

Traffic wasn't too too bad as we approached Denver.  We arrived at our Springhill Suites and found out we were on the "Executive Floor."  I'm sure it has something to do with the number of nights we are staying and the number of rooms we have.  But still, pretty nice "perk."  We have to put our key in the elevator to get to the 4th floor.  Here is the hotel and the room.

First order of business  - where to eat?  Joe would have liked Cracker Barrel and Dave would have liked Dave and Busters but both were at least 30 to 40 minutes away.  We decided on a local family-owned restaurant with good Trip Advisor reviews called Lupitas.  They served Mexican food as well as steaks and burgers.  The family who owns it are from Peru.  It was good.  I even had a drink.

We got back to our rooms and Dave went to work on an order for a large job in Ignacio.  He and Joe are now watching "Scorpion" which all of us really enjoy.  I am updating this blog and my Facebook and my Care Pages.  Ben has been texting me all about how he is teaching Caleb (age 6) about apoapsis and periapsis and aero dynamics and thrust, mass  and density.    It's all involved in a "flying game" on Ben's computer.  Then Caleb must have wanted to play hide and seek as Ben sent me this photo.

#lazyHideandSeek

Ben said he was using the camera to look behind the couch so he didn't have to stand up.  Lol.

Tomorrow we pick up Teresa at 7:45 a.m. and we have our pre-op appointment at 11:45 a.m.  We are all pretty light-hearted and ready to go. Thanks for praying!

On Our Way

On Our Way

Posted Dec 8, 2014 4:26pm

Joe got up early to be at school at 6:40 am for a Math test. I got Ben up and going and Dave took Joe and then Dave went to clean windows. I dropped Ben off at school, gave him a quick squeeze and said, "See you in a week." Then I met Joe at his school where we checked in with his counselor and met the school nurse and health assistant.

We came home and packed up and left about 10:30. First we had to drop Buddy off at Your Best Friends. Buddy was so familiar with the place that it was very easy to leave him.

Currently I am on Dave's iPad writing this update. We just ate lunch at Joe's favorite place, Larkburger in Edwards, CO. Now on to Denver with an ETA of 4 ish. All is well.

Joe's 15th Birthday Party

Time is "flying" by.  This week we had appointments of some type every day for Joe.  He took the permit test one day after school.  He went to the orthodontist one day after school, etc.  On Saturday he invited 5 boys over to help celebrate his birhtday early.  I took all 6 of them up to Glenwood Springs to the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park where they were having "Winter on the Mountain."  It was about 35 degrees up there but we stayed from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and had a great time.  We rode the Alpine Coaster several times, the Zip line seeral times; we went to the 4D theater and watched all three shows.  We ate a really nice holiday dinner and then went to sit on Santa's lap.  Then we did the cave tour.

I was pretty beat by the time we got home last night and I was kind of numb this morning from fatigue, but it was a good fatigue.  The boys all spent the night and were picked up by noon today.

Today (Sunday) I am checking off all the things on my to do list.  We just got home from taking all of Ben's stuff to Tami's house.  Caleb asked if Ben could stay and decorate the tree.  I think Ben will have a great time there.

Black Thursday (smile)

Where to start?  Dave went hunting in Illinois.  He left on Tuesday, November 18.  On Thursday, November 20 - Ben turned 13.  On Friday, November 21 - Ben had a party with two friends over.  On Saturday, November 22 Jessica came home for the week and we all went to see Mockingjay at the Movie Theater.   Also on Saturday, November 22 Joe began Driver's Education class.  Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tues from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  On Sunday, November 23 while Joe was at class, Ben and Jess went to "paint" at Angelos and I went home for a short rest.

We usually do not put up our tree, etc. until after Thanksgiving.  But I learned a lot last year which was Jessica's first year away from home.  She came home for Thanksgiving and we shopped on Black Friday (LAST YEAR) and then on Saturday I got the tree and decorations out and she headed home.  So THIS YEAR, I pulled the tree out on the Monday before Thanksgiving and slowly throughout the week, we decorated.  So this year we got it done by Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving Day we did the Turkey Trot.  We came home and prepared our turkey, etc and ate about 4:00 p.m.

We had made our lists from the Black Friday ads.  I had two things I wanted that would be guaranteed at Wal-Mart from 6 to 7.  This is a great way to do it in my opionion.  We have learned to arrive Wal-Mart at about 6:30 p.m.  They have it mapped out where the "guaranteed" items will be.  We went to one station and picked up a ticket and then we went to another station and picked up a ticket.  Then Ben wanted a Xbox game so we went there.  Well because we had a game, we had to pay at the Electronics counter which had a line of about three people (as opposed to the lines up front of about 100 people.)  Worked out great.  We were out of there by 7.  We headed to Kohls.  Jessica wanted a jewerly item that was a "doorbuster" at Kohls.  We knew we were a little late for the doorbuster, but we thought we'd give it a chance.  At the jewelry counter they had a "take a ticket" thing going on - like at the DMV.  We were third in line with the ticket.  When it was our turn, the clerk told us the first person bought all the doorbuster necklaces.  So we asked her if there was another similar necklace for about the same price.  So for about 15 dollars more we were able to purchase at the jewelry counter what Jessica wanted.  The Kohls regular lined looped around the whole store, but since we bought jewelry we got to check out at jewelry.

Next to Herbergers for some makeup that was set aside for us until Black Friday so we could get the free item they were offering.  Again we were given priority because we were at the Clinique counter buying Clinique.  In and out.  Then to Bath and Body Works which by now had been open a couple of hours.  No lines whatsoever and great deals.  Boom - we were done.  Jessica did some of it on line and I had done some of it on line and we are pretty much done for the season.  We didn't even get up early on Friday - we slept in.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted Nov 27, 2014 3:07pm

I am soooo proud of Joe. He participated in the Turkey Trot and ran it with Jessica. This year Jessica stayed with him which meant walking at times, but good for them. Just shy of two weeks away from surgery and he did it. Not to say he wasn't in significant pain afterwards, but it's a few hours later now and his back is more tolerable now.

He finished Driver's Education and now is working on homework that his teachers gave him because he will finish the semester two weeks early. We will take the written permit test next week and then on December 23, on his 15th birthday he should be able to get his permit even though he won't be able to drive until cleared by the doctor.

We keep watching the weather and are believing for great weather on the days we need to travel over the mountain. Have a very happy Thanksgiving everyone.

November 14, 2014

Just signed us all up for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  We did it last year too.  Actually I think Ben slept through it.  I signed the kids up for competitive so hopefully Ben will go this year.

We had a great meeting with our Hunter Douglas sales reps. They've been doing some free business coaching with us the past year and I would have to say it's working as they say we are their top dealer on the Western Slope.  They used to really push for us to have a store front - something we are not real sold on as we enjoy working from home.  Now they don't push that as much.  There is a dealer in Montrose, CO who has a store front yet our sales are higher than theirs.  And they have all that overhead.  Hunter Douglas is by far the superior product out there so that is the customer we aim to attract.  The customer who wants quality not the customer looking for the cheapest blinds out there.  Basically you get what you pay for.

I had my 6 month check up at the rheumatologist and all was well.  I had lost 20 pounds since the previous visit so she was very happy with that.  I told her our medical deductible had been met so she ordered the xrays that are necessary every 2 years - chest, foot, and hand.  The chest xray was fine and the foot and hand xrays showed no further deteriation from the arthritis (basically looked the same as two years ago.)  That was great news.  I asked if I could go down on my dose of methotrexate but since Joe's surgery is coming up she said it would be better not to as stress can kick the whole RA into a flare up.  I have another appointment in 4 months.

We finished our Foundational Class.  So glad we got that in and so glad I finally got to hear the whole class.  I thought the teachers did a great job.  Still nothing quite like Dr. Wierwille and the Ambassador scene or the Session 5 of CHIST IN YOU! CHRIST IN YOU! CHRIST IN YOU!  -- the hope of glory.  But there was only one Dr. Wierwille.  The students were all very blessed and we have 2 students signed up for the next class.   We should run another class in March or July for sure.

I went to my primary doctor because my sinuses have been really bothering me for two months and kind of irritating for about a year.  She gave me amoxycllin.  It's helping a little, but she said it was a tough area to treat and I may need to be on it for a month.  So I just keep on taking it.

Ben had a Service Learning day at Corn Lake where they took water temperatures and did some clean up of the area and a lot more.  He had a fun day with that.  I love that kind of learning.

We have one week of school and Ben's birthday next week.  Then it will be Driver's Education and Thanksgving week.  Then we will celebrate Joe's birthday early and go to one more week of school and then off to Denver for surgery.  Ben starts basketball practice next week also.  Lots and lots going on.