It's a New Day 1/6/2015

It's a New Day

Posted Jan 6, 2015 9:05pm

So we have just returned from Denver. We did it in a day and we had BEAUTIFUL weather. It was almost 60 degrees in Denver. However, yesterday it started out very cold and then warmed up which meant there was a LOT of wind while the warm air "blew" in causing a lot of traffic headaches. But we traveled today - not yesterday and God has watched over us each time we have had to travel. The roads were clear, there were no accidents to slow us down, and the weather and the views were beautiful.

We visited with the Phsician Assistant Ryan Ballard. Joe had another xray taken. We took a look at that and Dr. Ballard took a look at Joe's scar (which looks great.) He then answered our questions and we are released until next year.

So basically all of the strides Joe has made in this first month will be duplicated in month two. He will regain his strength and stamina over these next few weeks. Joe is beginning school tomorrow and I think personally fatigue will be the toughest component -- especially in this first week. I know tomorrow I will meet him at his lunch time and make sure he eats and let him sleep in the car if he needs to.

Eating is the other factor. He needs to eat like 3000 calories a day for the next four months while the bone fuses together. BUT he doesn't feel much like eating so we are trying to have him eat 6 times a day - smaller portions.

Dr. Ballard signed the medical form so that Joe can go and get his permit. We will hold off on driving until Feb 9, but we can at least get the permit which is something you need to hold for one year before you can get a license. We were happy about that.

We made thank you baskets with goodies, a photo collage, and a thank you card for the Spine Team of doctors/anestheologists/etc and for the team of nurses/CAs on the 6th floor. So we delivered those too.

Joe has a couple of places that still "hurt" not horribly but regularly. They are places that were very "curved" before but now have been stretched to be straight - so it is normal and it will get better in time.

At eight weeks (Feb 9) Joe is released to normal activity. He said, we release football players to play football at 8 weeks. I was like oh my goodness. But he said you will see great strides continue these next 4 weeks (like I mentioned above).

So again thank you everyone for all your prayers. Most likely I will not need to update this blog anymore, but I will still do the occasional family e-mails with updates.

Joe's official height is 6 feet one and one half inches (a gain of 1 1/2 inches) and he is still growing.