Aug. 15th, weekly update

 Just to clarify, as Roland goes by so many different names and titles (dad, Peppie, Roland, Uncle Roland, etc.) since I will be writing this, I will mostly be writing "dad" you can change that in your head to whatever title you want, we all know who I mean.

This week dad had an x-ray, a CAT scan, and surgery debrief meeting with a nurse and anesthesiologist. I am assuming all went well with the x-ray and CAT scan as nothing else was mentioned about them and the surgery is still on for next Friday, 8/21.

Natalie, from the surgery team, met with dad on Tuesday afternoon. She explained the "dos" and "don'ts" before surgery (showering, supplements, meds, etc). She also went over the whole process for prep, ports, and placement (more detail was given, but I am not putting that here for those with weak stomachs). She is still saying 4-7 days in the hospital afterwards for recovery (truthfully, we, Roland's offspring, are hoping that he stays the full 7 days in order to receive the maximum healing and rest before heading home, plus he is a really good patient, he entertains the hospital staff with his jokes and stories). Natalie was very happy to hear that someone would be staying with dad for a couple of weeks after he goes home (Thank you Marion!! 💕).

This was followed by a meeting with the anesthesiologist. They explained that whoever was bringing dad in at 5:00am (Thank you Toby!! 💕), could stay with him until it is time to sedate him. Dad will be given something to reduce anxiety and then more medical stuff left out for the queasy stomachs.

The nurse also told dad that he would have to remove all jewelry. He told her his wedding band has never been off his finger (61 years, 3 months, and 12 days people!!). She told him he may have to visit a jeweler to have it cut off, his response? "NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!" He worked on it for half an hour and was able to get it off. He says, understandably, "it feels weird without it".

Dad stopped to visit mom on the way home from his CAT scan appointment, she was tired so there was not much conversation, but she still loves him and he still loves her! Some things remain constant no matter the adornment!!

                              

The surgery is expected to take 3-4 hours and then he will be moved to the ICU. The family (probably Toby and/or Amy) should get a call around 1:00 or 2:00pm. Later in the day they will allow him to wake up, still with all the paraphernalia attached, but awake.

On a side note, one thing that dad has been working on slowly but surely over the last several months, is cleaning and organizing the house. This is no small feat considering they have lived and raised a family in this house for almost 58 years (3 story farm house, 4 if you include the cellar) that is a lot of accumulation! Over the last several months there have been MANY, MANY donations to various bookstores, clothing bins and donation centers throughout most of New England (dad is an equal opportunity thrift giver! 😀).

As you all know, dad is not a "sit still" kind of guy. When there are things to be done, he gets them done, no matter how long they may take. His main focus lately has been to get the downstairs portion of the house cleaned before his surgery, knowing that he will be VERY limited in the things and activities he can do for at least 6 weeks afterwards. 

While this is a smaller job than the whole house, it is still a fairly big task. Knowing that, and in order to ease his mind going in to the surgery, (and ease ours afterwards knowing everything will be clean and he won't be tempted to do stuff he shouldn't), we decided to gift him with hiring a cleaning service. They have a 3 person team coming on Thursday, the day before his surgery, to deep clean the entire downstairs and, in their words, "make it sparkle". Yes, we did tell them it is a 200+ year old farm house so we are not sure exactly how much "sparkle" it has left, but they are still going to try for sparkle! Dad and Toby will be there while they are there so I am sure dad will be pitching in to help (and chat them up!). They will only be cleaning not removing anything except trash.

An additional benefit to this is that now dad will have a variety of room choices for when friends come to visit after his surgery. Yes, that is a blatant hint for anyone local (or anyone who will be visiting in the area after he gets home), to take the time to go and visit. Play a game (he will happily teach you to play U-Dog), watch a movie, or just sit and chat. He will definitely need some distractions, especially the further from the surgery he gets and the better he feels.