A Year of Change

It’s 5am here in Beaver Creek. Jag called out to me around 4:20 from his sofa bed in the living room of our room at The Westin as he was cold. I called him into my room where Ty was fast asleep next to me. Now they’re both wrapped up in down comforters in the Heavenly Bed (Westin’s signature bed).

After running a few errands yesterday morning in Vail, we checked Lori in right on time. She had four doctors of which I knew three. After talking with everyone and getting her all set, it was time to get the show moving. The boys and I took off to run a couple of errands as the surgery was scheduled for three hours. Dr Strahan who was the specialist who would make the initial incision to avoid all nerves, called me an hour and a half later saying his part was all done and everything went great and looked good. He did say he stuck around long enough to see Don (Dr Corenman) pull apart the vertebrae and the disc just fell apart. This is good and bad, the good is they didn’t have to dig it out and the bad means she literally had no cushion or disc in between her bones. No wonder the poor girl was in such pain.

The boys and I went to buy Mom a stuffed bear from Ty and a scarf, from Jag (to pretty up her collar)and headed back to the hospital to drop off a few bottles of wine to Dr Strahan. He was very appreciative. We then decided to go to the hotel as we had two hours to go. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, Dr. Don called and said, “we’re all done”! This was a surprise to me as it was an hour ahead of schedule. Apparently not having to dig the disc out saved time. When I asked about the disc, he said,   “as far as discs go, this is about the worst one I’ve ever seen”. He went on to tell me though that he was 99% sure this had to be the cause of her pain as her bones were out of alignment and the facets (where the nerves travel) were all pinched and blocked. He realigned them so now she has a nice pretty curve like we’ve all seen on skeletons or pictures. I asked about the others discs and he said he didn’t know as they don’t look at them but as long as they aren’t causing pain, we’ll leave them alone.

So we jumped in the car and headed back to the hospital. When we arrived I went to the wing where her room was but she was still in recovery. The nurses were very nice and showed us to her suite (nice name for a hospital room but it was really nice) where I parked the boys while I went up a floor to recovery. I walked in and there she was, all done up in her neck collar, wires going everywhere and still a little drugged but a half an inch taller, which made her happy. Her pain was down she thought but it was hard to tell as her neck and throat were sore plus her hip, where they took a bone for her neck, was killing her. They warned us the hip might hurt worse than the neck! Apparently they take a small bone from the hip and then replace it with sea corral.

20 minutes later we moved her down a floor to her suite, The Peppi Granshammer Suite, named after famous residents of Vail. The boys were all over her wanting to make sure she was ok while the nurses were hooking up all her monitors. We stayed for a few hours and then decided to get some dinner. Dr Don did come by again and said she did great and we should be going home tomorrow. I could tell she was having a hard time swallowing but she did eat some ice cream and we brought her a creme brûlée back from dinner around 8pm. After visiting for another 30 minutes or so, I took the boys and headed back to the hotel. I made sure the nurses had my cell number in case they needed to call me. I haven’t heard from them so everything should be fine.

I’ll let the boys sleep until 7 or so and then probably let them swim and get some breakfast before we head over to see Lori. The doctors will stop by this morning to check on her and then if all’s ok, we’ll head home. I don’t imagine well be out of there before noon, if we go. Rachael, her friend, is making us dinner tonight which is nice and a few other friends have also reached out asking what they can do to help. My phone blew up yesterday with people from all over the country checking on the misses. I left her with her phone but it has to have run out of battery by now if any one of you tried to call. I called Grandma Dixie and my Mom and asked them to call all of you so hopefully everyone knows the good news.

So that’s it, modern medicine is pretty amazing. Of course the big variable is who your doctor is. I’ve had people give me a hard time for coming to Vail for my knee or her neck but I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else except where the best docs are. Thankfully they’re here as if they were in New York, I’d be writing from there right now.

I’ll call everyone when or if we’re headed home today. It snowed last night and was beautiful with all the Christmas lights on the trees all around town up here. The misses won’t be driving or doing much for weeks, maybe months. The docs were adamant about her taking it easy and letting her bones and titanium plate fuse together. I’ll tie her up if I have to, won’t be the first time, just kidding!

Take care, keep praying and God Bless.

Well we all know what day it is. We’re leaving Denver around 8:30 for an 11:30 check in. They are supposed to start surgery at 1pm but yesterday said they have a couple of quick procedures before her so they might get going early, let’s hope so.

I’ll be on my cell and call those of you whose number I have. It’s still cold and icy out and that’s why we’re leaving early.

We need everyone to say their prayers, (even those of you that don’t pray) for the misses to get through this and end up with no pain. I’m not going to go into it as the past is the past and we’re trying to look forward so there you have it.

Take care and God Bless and we’ll talk to you later today.

It’s doesn’t look like the snow will be that deep but it’s icy and cold outside right now at 5:41. They say it’s about 14 degrees and when I used my broom (brooms work as good as shovels if not better for just a few inches) only the top layer came off and a layer of ice was underneath. I was of course out in my boxers and flip flops. The snow needs to be about 6 inches deep or more before I switch to boots! It’ll be cold all day and then dip to the teens or even single digits tonight.

Last night Ty had a basketball game and it started out with him winning the jump ball. He played great all night and had the task of guarding the largest guy on the other team. At one point her ran by me and said “Dad, number 50 just flipped me off”. We were of course astonished and laughing at the same time. The game is pretty rough for 10 year olds with lots of kids hitting the ground. Near the end Ty and the large kid both went down and the large kid rolled right over the top of Ty when getting up. Ty just smiled and got up and ran down the court. We ended up winning something like 24 to 4.

Today we have lots to do to get ready to leave for Vail tomorrow. I won’t go into it all but we’re jam packed all day long. Lori is excited but nervous at the same time as she should be. They said yesterday her headache should be gone instantly but then added she’ll be hurting just about every where else! I think she’ll take it as long as the headache is finally gone.

I just woke Jag as he has inter-murals outside this morning. He’s all excited as he gets to wear his new gloves, whoo hoo! Guess I’ll run, I will post in the morning and then take the computer with me so I can check emails and post Saturday morning but will call everyone tomorrow night to update you on the misses. We need everyone to say a prayer for her that everything will go well and that this painful chapter of her life will finally be over!

Take care and God Bless

Here’s a comment from Annette,

Annette says:

Looks like Jag and I might have the crud, super. I have green crud and Jag just doesn’t feel well. We’ll have to stay far away from Lori as if she misses this date it’ll probably be next year before they can get her in.

Yesterday was a rough day with lots to do and neither of us feeling too well. Snow is in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, super. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.

Jag has inter-murals so he needs to leave in 30 minutes and I’ll be leaving for Vail around 11am at the latest. I should be done up their at 4 meaning I’ll make it home around 6pm. Then tomorrow I’ll leave around 9am to drive 3 and a half hours to Aspen for a 1 to 4 event and then drive home hopefully arriving by 8 or so. Everyone is staying the night in Vail tonight but I’m driving home to help out around the house.

Not much else going on so time to go, hope everyone is well, take care and God Bless.

It wasn’t as pretty as usual but then we played a team that was undefeated. The game started off with a great tailgate full of food, in fact it’s still all in the back of the car! Thankfully it was cold enough last night so it’s all still good. The stadium was full of energy and the Bronco’s didn’t disappoint. We lead from start to finish although it was a sort of a close game. We never had any doubt though that we’d win.

We stopped on the way home with our friends for a nightcap (their doing) and before we knew it, it was after midnight! We rushed home and got straight to bed. It was basically the misses last hurrah before her surgery this coming Friday.

It’s 7am and everyone is still sleeping so time to get them all up and get moving. I think I’ll get some chili out of the car for breakfast!

Take care and God Bless

Tonight we play the Kansas City Chiefs and we should, and I said should, beat the hell out of them. But this is football which is unpredictable so you never know. We’re leaving around 4pm and will tailgate with a dozen or so people. As I said yesterday, Aime is making her chili which should hit the spot as it’s supposed to be really cold.

It’s about 7am and I managed to get some good sleep which I needed as my nose was stuffed up and I’m trying to fight off a cold. If I get sick, then Lori usually gets sick which means they would then cancel her surgery so I’m staying far far away from her. I’m also drinking lots of tea and taking Cold Snap trying to fight it off. I feel a little better this morning and at least my nose isn’t stuffed up. Hopefully it was just allergies.

Lori climbed up in the attic while Jag and I were at REI, and she carried down the tree. There’s no stopping her when she’s on a mission. The tree is up with lights on and most of the ornaments. Earlier in the morning I cleaned out the Suburban and Jag and I went to the car wash for an hour long detail of the inside of the car. There’s only so much I can do without all the equipment they have to remove all the kid gunk that gets built up from years of use. You wouldn’t believe the mess. Anyhow now the car looks brand new. I picked up some much needed winter gloves for Ty (we bought Jag some at Cabela’s a month ago) and some other stuff for both cars winter survival kits. Here in Colorado you should not go to the mountains without water, food, heat and other stuff in the winter. We had to get some new beeswax candles and a couple of water bottles.

I need to run so wish us luck tonight. It will be very very disappointing if we do not win big time tonight.

We have a big week in front of us. Lori has to get some prescriptions from the store today to start prepping for her big day. For 5 days she needs to wash herself with a special soap after she gets out of the shower and then get back in and rinse it off. She also can’t shave her legs 24 hours before the operation as they don’t want ANY open cuts, even the microscopic ones you get when shaving to avoid any chance of infection. This of course is a major concern for her, she asked yesterday if she could use Nair and I said no! Friends from Steamboat who will be at the game stopped by yesterday and she had a fusion surgery also. Lori wasn’t aware until a few days ago that she’d be wearing a collar for months so now we’re trying to figure out a scarf wardrobe to cover it up. Anyhow the headache is still there. I woke up at 2 and she was awake with her head. I think she falls asleep around 4 each morning so I’m letting her sleep. We’re praying this fixes her all up!

God Bless you and God Bless the Denver Bronco’s!

Yesterday the misses cleaned out the mud room. Now this might not seem like a big deal but you haven’t seen our mud room. I told her to take it easy and just hit the couch and watch a movie but she said she has a headache whether she’s on the couch or cleaning so she wanted to clean. There’s lots to do around here before she goes in next week. We’re trying to get it done as she probably won’t feel, or be able to, do much after she has her operation.

I just checked the weather report and wouldn’t you know it, it’s supposed to snow big time next Thursday and Friday. That means we’ll need to leave early Friday morning or maybe even  Thursday night to get up there.

So today we’ll be cleaning out the front room and getting the Christmas tree down from the garage attic. Today is also Denver’s Colorado Share where you donate canned foods, clothes and toys so we’ll drive a bunch of food downtown to help out.

The shoes, well it turns out, they’re mostly mine! I’m kind of a hoarder I guess as I have some that are 20 years old but they’re still in good shape and why would I throw them out? Lori says I should throw them out if I don’t wear them, hmm, that doesn’t make a lot of sense does it.

There’s a few runny noses around here. No one is really sick but we have to stay well as they won’t operate on Lori if she’s sick. Tomorrow night is the big Sunday Night Football game between the Broncos and the undefeated Kansas City Chiefs. I hope we crush them! Our tailgate theme is chili and champagne. Our friend is making her great chili and my distributor donated 3 bottles of french champagne to the cause. We have about 10 people coming.

I need to run as it’s time to get some more coffee. It’s snowing hard in the mountains. Hard to believe the pictures on the news of all the snow when we were just up there twice  this week and it was dry and sunny. If you don’t like the weather in Colorado, just wait 5 minutes!

Take care and God Bless.

We made it to Vail just in time for Lori’s appointment. The doctor was really a nice guy who is really qualified. He explained in detail what his job is and what we should expect. Looks like he’s the guy that makes the initial incesion to avoid the nerve we talked about yesterday. They’ll set a pen like X-ray thing on her neck and then he’ll make a cut hoping to get under the nerve. Best case is it’s on top but it’s hard to tell until a cut is made. It runs along a major blood vessel so if it’s not right there, he’ll follow the blood vessel until he finds it. He’ll then take the whole esophogus and all that stuff and move them to the side so Dr. Don can get to the spine. Then 3 hours later she should be done. For the first week she’ll eat thick runny cool things like yogurt and protein shakes but no stuff like hamburgers or hot food. Looks like no turkey and stuffing for her! Oh by the way, Dr. Don is this guys doctor! It’s good to go to the doctor that other doctor’s go to!

We ran in to a man at Ty’s school performance last night who had the same procedure done down here at Lutheran Hospital and apparently they DID hit the nerve as his voice hasn’t healed and was pretty raspy. He’s been out 6 weeks now and was supposed to be talking normal after 2 weeks! He also had a huge scar that freaked the misses out but I told her she could always wear makeup! Our doc yesterday did stick a tube with a camera down Lori’s nose and into her throat yesterday to check out the voice box and all the stuff down there. it was pretty cool as I watched the whole thing on a tv screen. Everything looked great but the misses is understandably a bit nervous. This is a big deal and a big operation but we’re in the best hands possible and we have to do it so we can get rid of the headache (hopefully, you never know for sure) and who knows what will happen to our insurance with you know who in office!

Last night Ty’s performance was all about America. All songs were patriotic including the Star Spangled Banner. This was probably the best performance ever and lots of parents told the teacher so. Funny but yesterday a school district in South Dakota decided to outlaw the kids from saying the Pledge of Allegiance in the mornings. There reasoning was they couldn’t find the 10 seconds each day to do so! What’s wrong with some people. Older vets at the school board meeting walked out in tears. Wonder what would have happened if they were too busy to defend those peoples freedoms?

Today I have to head downtown at 7:30 and then will be home around 10 with lots of work to do. I’m going to run now as it’s 6:20 and I’m running out of time. Hope everyone is well, God Bless.

Last night Ty had his basketball game and it was a nail bitter. In the end they lost by 1 point but the kid at the scorers table missed a couple of baskets by our team, but what are you going to do.

It looks like the surgery is a go from the insurance standpoint which is great news. The rest is up to me. This morning we’re headed back up to Vail for a pre-op appointment with the ENT specialist who will be assisting Dr. Corenman. At least I know I’ve got her the very best doctors anyone could get. Our appointment is at 10:30 so we’ll head up right after dropping the kids at school and hopefully be home by 1pm. Tonight Ty has his  musical performance at school. It’s always something and I’m looking forward to it but boy am I tired. It seems I’m just tired all the time these days. I need a rest but I’ll worry about that next year!

In fact now that I’ve mentioned it, I am pretty tired right now too so I’m going to run. Hope everyone is well, take care and wish us luck that we get it all together and things go well. I’m out of town next Tuesday and Wednesday so we’ve got lots to do. We need to get our Christmas stuff up this weekend and then have the big football game Sunday night. I should just start sleeping only 4 hours a night so I can get all my stuff done!

Take care, God Bless, here’s a comment from Annette,

Annette says: