Patience

"I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end"
(Margaret Thatcher)

Some truth to the above quote. Problem is, I have to keep redefining what "my way" is. I think I'm now on Plan "H", at least. I suppose that's life, eh?

I am exceedingly tired of "hurry up and wait". It's been 7+ long years of waiting for something. Yet again, here we sit, going nowhere fast ... waiting for the months to pass so Jack can sit up in his wheelchair and "engage" in life again. I can't wrap my head around the fact that Jack has been flat on his back since July 28th. I'm not sure why it bothers me so much, Jack doesn't seem to have a problem with it! Jack continues to be happy and content. He is doing awesome from a medical standpoint -- no signs of infection, his O2 sats have been consistently 100% and his heartrate is back to his baseline - all signs that he is comfortable and feeling good. I've been told to be patient because there is a light at the end of this tunnel ... I just fear that it might be that of an oncoming train :-) The pessimist in me (or perhaps the realist) is wondering just how long the "good times" will last.

Jack sees our local ortho this coming Wednesday for an x-ray, which will be sent to our St. Louis ortho. I'm anxious to get an x-ray, as I want to be assured that the hardware is still where it is supposed to be and nothing has shifted or broken off. We've got an appointment with the general surgeon in a few weeks to talk about getting the broviac out. When I called to get an appointment, the person on the phone asked if I could get the records from St. Louis to them. Yeah, right ... if you've got room for a few shelves of records. I just laughed and told her that they really don't need the records as I can give the doctor all the information he needs.

I'm hoping to get the "ok" from the St. Louis ortho to get Jack out of his full body jacket by Christmas. If we can cut off the portion that stabilizes his leg and just keep him in the torso part, we can get him up in his chair. All my siblings will be home for Christmas this year -- I have two brothers and a sister who live out of state (and two sisters who live here in Phoenix). Between us, we have 19 kids! This will be the first time we've all been home in about 15 years and most of us have doubled our families since that time. Of course, we want to have a family portrait done, but if Jack can't sit in his wheelchair, I'm not sure how he can be in the picture. I've got to believe he can get out of the full body brace by then.

The pictures are from this past week. I so badly want to pick Jack up and hold him. It's so hard not to be able to wrap my arms around him. I've got to be content with simply holding his hand right now. I know ..... patience ............