2 surgeries down...just recovery to go...

So I had my surgery yesterday and came home this morning. Overall it's going reasonably well today, but day 3 and 4 tend to be the worst. My neck pain seems to be a little less than Bret's but my throat sure is sore.

Lots of popsicles and jello so far....we'll keep you posted as the days go by!

jan and bret

Home sweet home

Bret came home late yesterday afternoon....then night for him was so so....he was pretty nauseous but he slept really well. Today is Day 3 which is supposed to be the worst day post surgery. He definitely is feeling the swelling in his throat and is living pretty much on pudding and Popsicles. The bonus is he's still able to lay down without feeling like he's choking...we count that as a HUGE plus.

So it's simply a day of taking it easy today. Lee comes home tomorrow afternoon so we're really excited about his arrival!

Will write more later....

thanks for ALL of your support!

jan

latest news

Bret is out of surgery and lounging in his hospital room. All went as expected during the operation! The doc said that he had a bunch of bone fragments pushing against his spinal cord which were most likely the main cause of his numbness. He was put in a soft collar instead of a hard one, so our hope is that he will be able to drive by the time my surgery rolls around next week.

I spent about an hour with him after he got to his room, but he's still really groggy so I'm home to catch a few zzzz's myself...it was a short night last night....and then I'll head back to the hospital later this afternoon. When I left he was dozing away and had convinced the nurse to get him some pepsi, so life was good. I've been ordered to bring more pepsi when I go back, so he's well on his way back to normal....lol....

I'll post more as time goes on!

thanks

jan

Bret's surgery is today....

So it's 5:21 in the a.m. and Bret and I are just getting ready to go to the hospital for his surgery, which is at 7:30. The surgery itself will take about 3 hours and I'll be at the hospital for most of the day I suspect. I will post an update before I go to bed though.

Please send positive thoughts Bret's way!

Love to all!

Jan

As promised....

Here is a series of pics to fill you in on some of what we've been up to....I hope you enjoy....

Here are a couple action shots of our budding viola star during his spring concert :)

These are some huge ice "chunks" that calved off of the Portage Glacier, which is about a half hour from Anchorage. They're just floating around in the lake...but you don't want to get close because they are really unstable and can flip without notice.

this was the views from our lake side campsite a couple weekends ago...

This is Bret and Bailey making dinner at our camp, and I threw in a pic of our very old, but very beloved new pop-up trailer....woot woot

If you look really closely, you'll see a cute yet prickly porcupine that we came across in the woods

So that concludes our slide show for now....I'll try to keep more current on the pics from now on. For the next post I'll take some shots of the inside of our house to give people an idea of where we live....

We love you all tons!!!

jan

Checking in once more

So I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of posting regular blogs, so here I am checking in. The latest news is that I too need neck surgery, like Bret. My doc wanted to do it next week, but in reality I'm hoping for the week after Bret's surgery, if all the stars align. I just found this out tonight, so my mood is less than chipper lol....but I'll spare you all my rant....I took care of that in my other blog....lucky you lol.

So to recap....Bret has surgery on the 21st, Lee comes home on the 24th (yippee), and I'll have surgery that next week....fun summer huh?

I've done some painting in the kitchen and still have those camping pics to post (several of you have reminded me that they are still missing). I promise they will be posted by Thursday!

Hope all is well with you guys....I'm keeping this one short....until Thursday....take good care!
jan

Many big events and well wishes!

So I know I said it last post but

belated HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!!!! to all my fellow Canadians!

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY ALASKA!!!!!!!!! to all my fellow Alaskans!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!!!!!!!! to all the Americans with whom I live!

But most importantly and definitely closest to my heart goes a huge and heartfelt....

HAPPY 9TH ANNIVERSARY TO BRET AND JAN!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep folks on July 3rd Bret and I celebrated our 9th year together....crazy huh....we've definitely built quite the life together, and it's been the best 9 years of my life! I love you and look forward to 9 more (x5) together!

jan