Day 13

For appropriate context, you will want to first read these posts: “Eleven Days Ago” and “Day 12”.

My wife’s surgery went smoothly. She arrived back a couple hours later than planed, in intense pain, and barely aware, but she arrived back. With her she brought a newly constructed ankle — three titanium brackets and fifteen pins. There were more pieces to put back together then originally thought based on all the scans, but the surgeon said everything was now in its place.

I helped the nurses transfer her from the transport bed to the room bed. All it involved was pulling one corner of the sheet she was on…but I felt like I was doing something of use. I recall the first time I was in a hospital room with loved one coming out of surgery. It was my daughter on the bed — so tiny and fragile. I almost fainted at the site and the nurses started to pay more attention to me than my daughter. I felt terrible about this. I wanted to say don’t pay attention to me. Please take care of my daughter first. But having a falling accident in a hospital is a major issue and the nurses were trained to protect against it. They did their job and got me into a chair and went back to my daughter’s care, but I’ll always remember that I wasn’t strong enough for her in that moment. Part of me worried that this would happen again, but I was steady this time. I was even a little useful.

The first hour back was torture to watch (and listen too). I can’t imagine fully what it was like for my wife to experience. Slowly we all got a handle on the pain management. There was a “magic” button that would pump just a little extra anesthetic when most needed and my wife would become skilled at timing the pump over the course of the night.

It was during the late evening hours when she was “in the zone” of having enough pain relief but aware when things got intimate. We talked that is. We talked about life. Our life. About difficult times. About silver linings. About love. About our future. I won’t kiss and tell (in too much detail), but I think we both had a moment. A moment that we both needed. A moment that reaffirmed for both of us that we wanted many more of such moments together. From pain our love and commitment is forged stronger like wrought iron. It’s not just an analogy (ok it IS just an analogy, but it feels so damn true).

Today is a good day.

Be well,

Monty

Published by Monty Vern

Work-in-Progress personal blogger, author & illustrator, and fallible human being.

12 Comments

  1. Kathleen says:
    May 18, 2022 at 11:12 am

    So sweet.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  2. Michelle (Boomer Eco Crusader) says:
    May 18, 2022 at 6:54 pm

    Hi Monty! Just catching up on this thread. I’m sorry to hear of your wife’s fall, but happy her surgery went well. Best wishes for a speedy recovery. 💚

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Monty Vern says:
      May 18, 2022 at 6:55 pm

      Thanks Michelle ❤️

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  3. Sam "Goldie" Kirk says:
    May 18, 2022 at 11:48 pm

    What a beautiful ending to the post.
    I hope your wife recovers quickly and you both get to enjoy more fun times together.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Monty Vern says:
      May 19, 2022 at 6:30 am

      Thank you Sam!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  4. peckapalooza says:
    May 19, 2022 at 6:37 am

    You’ve got me tearing up here, friend. So glad that the surgery went well. Praying still.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Monty Vern says:
      May 19, 2022 at 6:40 am

      Thank you Aaron. Will take all the prayers with much gratitude.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  5. Kanak Modi says:
    May 19, 2022 at 11:34 am

    I hope she gets well soon, there are good times ahead!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Monty Vern says:
      May 19, 2022 at 12:47 pm

      Thank you!

      Like

      Reply
  6. Paul says:
    May 20, 2022 at 7:49 am

    Glad to hear the surgery went well! Here’s to a speedy recovery. Remember to breathe.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
    1. Monty Vern says:
      May 20, 2022 at 7:50 am

      Thanks Paul. Yes, breathing…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
  7. Pingback: Day 18: Going Home – Monty’s Blahg

Leave a Comment

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s