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Jo came home last night and is resting well.  The recovery process can now begin.  Her arm is in a big sling and she has an ice machine circulating cold water all around her shoulder.  We'll be doing exercises 3 times per day and she's been told she won't be able to drive for 6 to 8 weeks.  Good thing there is no driving necessary to teach a dance or two in Colorado Springs in just 5 weeks!

Two thumbs up for Rose Medical Center in Denver.  The food was absolutely outstanding! (At least that's what Jo told me.)  By the way...if you work at Rose, I'm sorry Jo ate so many of those delicious little ice cream cups you keep in the refrigerator.  I hope none of the other patients were looking for one.

"Almost Too Easy"

Jo and I arrived at Rose Medical Center at 5:30am.  She was checked in and ready to go by 7:30am and before 9:30am we were sitting in the recovery room.  That's right, I said, "we".  That's the first time I've ever been invited to the recovery room.  In fact, the entire surgery process seems to have changed quite a bit in the past 8 years. Everything seems a lot easier and much more streamlined.

Before noon, Jo was sitting in her room talking to Anna on the phone and I heard her say, "It seemed almost too easy."  She is scheduled to spend one night in the hospital and then head on home tomorrow.

In the famous words of one doctor at the NIH, "Don't worry, it'll get worse."  Of course, he was talking about the ATG treatment, but I'm guessing Jo's discomfort will increase a little as soon as her nerve block starts to wear off.  Right now, she still can't feel or move the fingers on her left hand.

The early morning caught up with us and we both just finished a pretty significant nap, but other than that, Jo looks ready for me to wheel her down to Starbucks!

Engine, Engine #9

Saturday morning I left my house at 4:55am headed to The Manitou Incline.  The sun was poking up over the eastern horizon and a low hanging fog engulfed much of Colorado Springs.  By the time I got to Manitou, the sun was shining on the mountain and the fog had lifted.  The best word to describe the entire drive is “majestic”.

I do this drive a fair amount, and every time my eyes get moist.  This particular Saturday, I wept.  Two weeks ago, my dear friends lost their 15 month old grandchild.  For 10 years I’ve written about navigating the circumstances of life, all the while hoping nobody would ever say to me, “yeah, but you’ve never lost a child.”  I should have known this day would come.  I have no answers.  I have no advice.  If you need another hug, I’m here for you.

………

I see it’s been over 4 years since my last post.  Jo’s health has been essentially perfect.  She really runs around in life just like you or me as if nothing ever happened.  Well, this week it’s time to turn back time.  Jo is at the airport right now picking up Meema, which Anna is very excited about!  Before we get to the details, let’s take a look at the game film…

If you look closely, the cadaver bone that Jo had put in her shoulder EIGHT years ago is coming loose and breaking apart.  You can see the screw has sunk down into the shoulder and isn’t even touching the cadaver bone anymore.  As our little niece said when she was about 5 years old, “I’ve got another broken arm.”

Tomorrow, Jo will have a partial shoulder replacement.  Or as the medical folk like to say…”LEFT shoulder open debridgement, biopsies/cultures with pyrocarbon humeral head hemiarthroplasty.  Possible long head biceps tenodesis, labral repair, total shoulder replacement, biceps tenodesis, cadaver tissue use, bone grafting, and/or distal clavicle excision if required.”

This is Jo’s 9^th joint surgery.  Bonus points go out to anybody that can identify the most likely place an adult today could hear the phrase “Engine, Engine #9”.  (The answer has nothing to do with children.)