The Date is Set

Judi's surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5th. We will do her pre-op tests/paper work on Monday and then bring her in the morning of surgery. I did have to take her back again last week for another CT scan. It appears that she moved a little at one point and the CT technician did not see it. The company that is building her prosthesis was concerned that they may not have the best possible fit without having another scan. I obviously said we need to do it again. We definitely don't want to be in the middle of surgery trying to make it fit. The surgery date was driven by the amount of time needed to get the prosthesis built and in the hands of the surgeons. It is a polymer type material as opposed to some type of metal. This will allow them to shape it a little if needed and will not impact the viability of any scans down the road.

We are currently scheduled for the first session. I have learned a bit about how the schedules seem to go at MCG and this slot was one that rarely seemed to get bumped for a higher priority case. This is Master's Week and I was a little concerned initially when they asked me about this date. I wanted to make sure that the team doing the surgery wouldn't be thinking more about being on the golf course than what was going on with Judi. As it turns out, none of the Drs doing her case are golfers and they preferred to be able to work that week since the operating room (OR) schedule was light. Assuming all goes well, she will be there a couple of days and then come home to recover. I don't want to spend one minute more than we have to in the hospital. Neither of us get any rest while she is there and it's obvious she does recover faster (better) at home.

I am glad we were able to do the surgery right away since Judi really seems to be losing ground lately. I am hoping it is a bit of apprehension about the pending surgery. It is also possible that Judi remembers the loss of one of her closest friends during a very similar surgery. Judi was devastated by the loss of Jill and was still learning to cope with it when she had her accident. It is also possible that Judi is thinking of her Mom. I tell Judi every day what the date is and it is very possible she remembered the anniversary date of her Mom's passing. It was 20 years ago on March 18 when we lost an awesome lady to cancer. Judi and her Mom were very close and it is one of the things that drove Judi's desire to work in the Oncology field.

Regardless of the cause, we are going to beat it! Once Judi gets healed up from this surgery, I am going to try and get her away to the beach for a few days. We need to try and get our lives back on a normal (as much as we can in this situation) track. I would have to say that the three of us have just been "existing" since the accident. I can hardly believe the accident was almost two years ago and we are just about to a point where she is in a stable physical condition. I know in my heart that she is going to excel mentally if I can finally get all the physical issues behind us. Judi just needs a little momentum in the positive direction to build upon. I dread the thought of another surgery, but I pray it's the last one. Each of them seem to drain a little life out of me. It will be a tough several months as we wait and see if the shunt will have to be changed out. Once we have that behind us, we will be able to focus on the future and what that has in store for us.

I have talked to a lot of people lately about doing whatever it takes to give Judi a chance to come back. Many of you know that all three of us love music in practically every form. I was stunned by a song that Rascall Flatts recently released call "I Won't Let Go." I was stunned because every word in that song described how I feel about both my girls, but especially for Judi in her current state. I could have written that song. I have said every word in that song to Judi over the last couple of years and it just brought all of it together for me after all this time. I cannot listen to it without tears coming to my eyes, but it always makes me take a deep breath at the end and find the resolve to keep going. I have attached a clip where they performed it on a show. I encourage all of you to give it a listen, especially if you are facing your own challenges. I continue to thank all of you for your prayers and ask that you mark your calenders for April the 5th and make a special little prayer for Judi that day.

Steve