Last Sunday, we drove up to Landstuhl {3 hours away} because Nathan has his hand surgery last week. He had pre-op super early on Monday morning & surgery scheduled for Wednesday. So, we were lucky enough to be able to stay in the Fisher House {basically a military Ronald McDonald house}, which is free & right across the street from the hospital.
This was really the first time we'd be away from home for more than one night. The kids did not take this situation well at all. It really didn't help that the room they put us in had two twin sized beds {keep in mind, these are German sized twins... much smaller than an American twin}, and they had two gymnastics mats to lay out for the kids. Uh... really? Since we checked in on a Sunday night, we had to go to the NCO desk in the hospital because there weren't any staff at the house, which meant no one could help us with our sleeping arrangements. Nathan shared one twin bed with John & I shared the other with Ellie. Even the next night when we had two pack & plays, we still shared the beds because John could climb out of the pack & play & Ellie refused to sleep in hers.
The nights were long & exhausting. I'm so glad to be home. Anyway, Nathan had to check into the APU at 9:30am Wednesday morning. He was supposed to be in the OR by about 11am. Well, he didn't actually get into the OR until 2:30pm or so & didn't get out of the OR until about 6pm. Then he had to be in the PACU for an hour. We finally were able to leave the hospital at 7:30pm.
What did I do with the kids you ask? Well, we had to be checked out of the Fisher House that morning because they were getting a large group of soldiers who were returning from Afghanistan. So, the kids & I {well, just me really}, walked the hospital for 7 of the 10 hours that we were there. 2 hours were spent resting while the kids napped. I found a little prayer room at the end of the surgical hallway, so thats where we went to eat, change diapers & rest. It was probably 8'x10' so I was able to wheel the double stroller in there & let John out when he was cranky. That room was an answer to my pleads that the day would be as smooth as possible!
I couldn't of asked for John & Ellie to be any more behaved than they were. I definitely can say it was from all the prayers from family & friends. I was so grateful!
Nathan is doing okay. He's in a lot of pain. He said this surgery is much more difficult to heal from than his previous surgeries. Even with alternating Morphine & Percocet every two hours, he is still in a ton of pain. I feel bad for him, so hopefully at his follow up appointment on Thursday, the surgeon can prescribe him something different.
Anyways, that's that little update.
Here are some random pictures lol.
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