Back to Normal...sort of

So the title could be kind of deceiving. Are we really back to normal yet? Well, in some cases yes.

My parents left during the day on Christmas Eve. It was very hard to see them go. What a blessing they have been over the last 2 months. Our girls have never had so much quality time with Grandpa and Grandma Hospers and it was such a gift for them to spend that much time with them in Iowa and then also here in MI. We basically spent our days hanging around the house, feeding Keaton, taking naps (all of us that were home!) and just spending time together. They did our shopping, cooked meals (unless someone brought them in, which was a nice break for my mom), held and fed Keaton, drove the girls to and from school and other things, played with the girls, cleaned my house, did yard work, scooped snow, and the list goes on and on. From the moment they took them to Iowa to the day they left, God showed me what being a parent is all about. We don't just care for our kids while they're in our care, we continue to love on them even when they're having kids of their own and live hundreds of miles away. They dropped everything to come and care for me and my family during a really tough time, not just while I was home, but when I was in the hospital too. My dad called me every morning at 7:30am (6:30 Iowa time) to see how my night went and how I was feeling. Seriously, every morning. Children are a gift from the Lord, and they took this seriously and faithfully. I pray that I am even a fraction of the gift that my parents are to me to my own children!

So minus 2 adults, our house has gotten a tad quieter (although, Keaton has become a little louder:) ), and a little more back to normal. I'd have to say that it's nice that it's still Christmas break so that I didn't have to dive into driving the girls back and forth yet this week. It's nice to just be able to lay low and hang out at home just a little bit longer.

As far as me being back to normal yet...nope, it may be a while. Still wondering how long? Yeah, so am I.:) I continue to take it one day/week at a time. I am still wearing my vac and will be until the wound doc or the home nurses order differently. As of last week Wednesday, my wound is measuring 4x14x.5cm. It continues to shrink, but slowed down from the previous week. Nurse Jodi said it's going to do this and some weeks it will change a lot. I do have to say though that it's changed already from last week to this week. I have another change tomorrow morning which is when Jodi will measure it again and I think she may even take a picture. Monday, she was quite impressed with how it was looking. Will I have the vac off next week, probably not. A new nurse that I had over the weekend said that they won't take the vac off if I'm still having drainage. The drainage has changed a bit, enough even that it's kind of made me nervous, but the nurses have said that the change is normal and as long as it looks the way it does, it's doing good.

Something not so fun about it right now is that it seems to hurt more. I've had to be pretty religious with taking ibuprofen and Tylenol to take the edge off. It never hurt to have the sponge taken off of the tissue, but over the last week it's become more painful. One nurse said it could be due to the fact that there's newer vascular tissue forming which may have more nerve endings in it. Again, as long as it looks healthy, that's what's important.

Next week Tuesday is my next appointment with the wound doc in GR. I'm VERY anxious to go since he's the one who will probably dictate when the vac comes off and the dry dressings will start. Once the vac is off, there will still be quite a bit of healing to be done. There will be a gel that will be put over the wound, then gauze and large pads covering the gauze. This will need to be changed daily or even a couple times a day depending on what it looks like. It will also be my job to do it. It makes me a little nervous to think about this part of my healing, but I know that once we get to this point, it means the end is "near". So I guess this answers the question that some people may be wondering: Are you going to do the skin graft? I'm kind of sticking with "no" right now, unless Dr. Hodgson says that it NEEDS to be done. But according to his reaction to my question 3 weeks ago, he seems to think that just letting it heal on it's own is also a good option, and it's the one that I was hoping to hear. I guess when you're living one week/day at a time and waiting for something to heal, you can't look too far ahead, and that's what I'm trying to do. Continuing to give it up to God and let Him heal me and give me peace about what happens one day at a time.

Please keep us in your prayers still as my wound has a ways to go yet, and that it stays clear of infection and irritations. Pray that our family stays healthy during a time of year that so many sicknesses are going around. Keep Kevin in your prayers as he has been battling one of those nasty colds; congested, coughing, losing his voice, energy drained, etc. He's barreling through it, but I know he's exhausted with working all day and then trying to do more at home. We are continue to be so grateful for so many prayers being offered for us. God continues to do his work on me and our family and we are so grateful and give him all the praise and glory!