The Trade- One Finger for One Long Life- Done Deal

So the deal has been done. We traded the finger in for life, when you think of it like that, it's totally worth it. I am functioning on very little sleep so if this blog even makes sense we will be doing good. After a slow journey to Houston last night we finally got to bed at my cousin Chris' apartment around 6 a.m. So when MDA called at 8 a.m. we got up and our brains barely even on. I called my sister and Lord led her straight to us, any of you that have encountered Ambers lack of directionality would know that her getting to MDA without getting lost or even taking a wrong turn is a miracle. Heck Eric and I couldn't even do that the first time we came :-) As we waited for Amber to meet us at the entrance Stephen and Lisa Brown walked in. Such a cool gift from God for us to have a moment with them. They have been fighting a tough battle with cancer for years now. I am so humbled that as they face their own battles they reached out to us to lend support and encouragement. If ya'll are reading this, know that you are precious and are praying for you as well. We checked in and they were ready to take him back before he could put the pen to paper on his pre-surgery paperwork. I asked the ladies at check-in when I would find out more about post-op and they looked a little confused like I should already know. I told them what I thought was suppose to happen, he gets out of surgery goes to recovery and then we go home, and they informed me that his chart had a code that indicated he not only was not an outpatient but that he was to be kept for multiple days. Hello, yet another moment of unexpected information. We didn't come prepared for a multi-day trip but that's okay, I would rather them take care of him properly than give me a doped up, chopped up husband for me to figure out how to care for. So we are to be here until he is up and walking around and taking pain meds orally. She said that could be as early as tomorrow evening but it really depends on him. The doctor was MUCH nicer today and answered all the questions my foggy head could come up with and I had her repeat some of them cause I'm so tired I was having a hard time with clarity. She says she told Eric some of the things that we didn't know, such as this not really be an outpatient surgery. I'll admit, that fella of mine is not always strong on communicating details but I really don't think he knew that, I mean he didn't bring his full camera bag people, he clearly expected to be going back home, lol! Anyhow, they took him back almost immediately. I did start to cry at that point as we walked back to the pre-surgery area. Not because I was scared but just because I hate for Eric to be going through any of this. He stayed strong though, someone suggested to me that perhaps my tears were ones he felt but was not shedding himself. I don't know about that but it sounds good, I mean we are one right. By the way, I have never seen him cry. Not one time since we have known each other. So there just might be something to that theory. As he got changed into his lovely dress and stockings I dried my eyes and we returned to laughter. I then asked if I could pray with him and warned him I was likely to cry again, he asked me to just pray silently. I did start to cry but they were happy tears. I thanked God for the wonderful husband he has given me and the amazing love we have been covered with. I know it's a bit ironic but in the last 48 hours I have found that when I pray I cry tears of joy. I hate that Eric is going through this but at the same time I can feel so much love and see so many reasons to praise God that it simply overtakes me. Anyhow, they took Eric away pretty quickly and Amber and I went to waiting area. In the waiting room I chatted with a lovely lady named Audrey from North Carolina who is here with her mother who is fighting breast cancer. She is confident they will have victory :-) It was wonderful to talk with her as we waited to hear how the surgery went. Just as so many people have been througout this whole journey she looked past her own situation and offered any help that she could in mine. Again I am humbled by the way that God has sent people into our lives to be blessings to us even in the midst of their own situations. I am terrible in that I don't think I ever offer anything in return. I mean to but I don't ever remember saying it out loud. If you have been one of those sweet angels to us know that we do desire to be their for others but in unusual fashion the words don't always make it to my mouth. I get so excited telling people how good the Lord has been to us in all of this and I don't remember everything that I say. As I sit here in reflection I realize that I need to embrace these moments to not only share of His good works but also to be His servant to others in their time of need.

Okay let me get back on track with the events of today... the surgery took about the estimated time of 2 hours. Then the doctor came to talk with us and gave me much more info on what's next so let me share that with you.

He is currently in recovery and will be until a room is ready for him. They usually don't let family see patients in recovery unless they are children but I made sure to tell them that if there is anyway for me to go see him I would really like too. I hate the idea of him waking up and not being there for him. I know he will be fine, in fact he might prefer it, perhaps he would like some time alone to just process what he has been through. She said he will wake up and be groggy but clear minded. I hope he just falls quickly back to sleep while waiting for his room.

After his room is ready we can go see him. They will let me sleep on a cot in his room which I plan to do. They said he will most likely be groggy the rest of today and perhaps even into tomorrow. How long he will stay depends on him. When he has done 5 things he can be released. Between Amber and I we think those 5 things are walk, eat, drink, urinate, and take medication orally. After he does those things we will be released to go home to Austin.

We will return in two weeks, well actually either 9 days or 16 days since she only sees patients on Wednesdays. I'm guessing it will be the 16 days. At that time they will remove the bandage and prescribe therapy. The therapy can be done locally in Austin though.

After that we will return in 8 weeks for a full screening of everything, as long as that still shows everything clean then we will just come in for checkups every 3 months.

His hand should have a bandage around the two fingers on each side of the removal site. She said in order for the scar to heal well and small that he really doesn't want to use those fingers for the next two weeks. His thumb and pinky finger will be free to dance around though.

I'm sure some silly pics will be coming soon.

Well I'm off to annoy the volunteers to see if I can maybe get back into that recovery room to give my sugars a kiss :-)

Again thanks so much for the prayers and encouragement. All day we have been recieving texts, emails, facebook posts, etc letting us know that we are in the thoughts of prayers of so many. I am so thankful for each and every one!!

Love to you all!
Brea