On Friday 8/17, we celebrated the 6-week mark from Cannon's surgery. It's hard to believe not just what we've been through, but that we've been through it at all. We anticipated it for so long, had so many ups and downs, so many prayers, so many doc appointments, so many conversations about it, so many attempts to picture it in our minds...
We prepped for the day of surgery. It got rescheduled two weeks prior. We prepped again. It got rescheduled the night before. We prepped again, it got rescheduled after Cannon already had sedation drugs administered in pre-op. We prepped again, and finally had the surgery. We survived the surgery and got into the hospital stay. We went from the hospital to home and started recovery at home. And after 5 weeks recovering at home, we are DONE. It doesn't seem real any more. The details are becoming fuzzier and fuzzier with every night of sleep. I'm going to have to read the blog just to remember what we went through... I'm glad we took the time to do it!
Through recovery, Tori and rotated time at home with the boys. We couldn't let Cannon go to daycare because they couldn't protect him and keep him down. No family-members were available to watch him. So after the initial two weeks at home with the whole family, I went back to work while Tori stayed home. The next week, I worked from the house so Tori could go do her last close at Ricoh. Then last week I was back at work while Tori worked from the house to watch the boys.
When I stayed home, I made sure to keep a close tab on the boys but tried to let them run the show and do what they wanted. I let Cannon go outside for short spurts with the warning that if he lifted/exercised/sweated/fell/jumped/breathed too hard we might have to go back to the hospital. He was smart enough to self-regulate and would mostly just walk around the yard. Most of the time he just chose to stay inside and play Wii or DS, or watch TV or movies. It was a tough existence for everyone, but I felt worst for Cannon. On the other hand, Colton had zero restrictions and would go outside to play, only to return after only a few minutes. Nothing was appealing to him if he didn't have his brother to share it with. This went on for a month. I can't express how proud I am of Cannon. He's rolled with every single punch thrown at him from surgery through recovery, with less complaints in 6 weeks than I get in any 1-hour span at work.
So last Friday, when we were finally at 6 weeks, Cannon got to go free. I stayed home with the boys so Tori could go have her last day in her office (she's changing to a work-from-home position, still at Ricoh). While I stayed in the house and worked, the boys stayed outside most of the day. Cannon was on his bike and the trampoline more than anything else. He wanted to get in the pool, but it's over his head and Daddy had to stay at the computer (well on that day, I was on the phone 6 of 10 hours working). On Saturday, it was back into public with no restrictions. We went to Lizzie Glasgow's 4th birthday party, and Cannon was once again just one of the kids. This morning, we went to church... Cannon was back in his Sunday School class and went to children's church.
Two months ago I wasn't sure Cannon would be here today. Looking back on those days I still feel a bit "raw". Maybe exhausted is an apt term. I keep thinking back to the morning of July 6th, surgery day, when I got out of bed and my legs didn't want to move. I kept thinking the task before us was impossible and surely God didn't really require us to endure it. He kept telling me to put one foot in front of the other and let him handle the rest. So I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth, prayed with Tori and got the boys up, and marched the whole family toward an uncertain day. One step at a time. I remember as we made the long walk from the hotel to TCH through the crosswalks and tunnels, I kept looking at Cannon wondering if I would see him walk/talk/smile/laugh again. Not the most optimistic thinking, but I feel it was necessary to prepare for any eventuality... it's just reality.
And it's over. Not only is it over, we still have our son. I never thought I'd see the day, and now that it's here I can only say one thing: MY GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD.
So what's next for the King family? Tomorrow, we add Scout to our ranks! She's our third child, but I won't say last child cuz I said Colton was our last child. I thought we were done, but God had different plans: "You ain't got it right yet! Here, try again."
We went to a Mexican restaurant today after church and asked for a table for 4, then realized it was the last time we'd ever say that! After tomorrow, it'll cost too much to say "table for 5" so we'll just always eat at home. Yep.
I'll try to do the same thing with the blog in the hospital tomorrow and give a blow-by-blow with Scout's birth. Since both boys were born by C-section, they keep the trend going and we are scheduled for a 9:30 AM C-section. Tori has been cleaning the house all day after church, I've been continuing work rebuilding the boat (that's another blog I might do one day). As the main provider for the house, I've deemed it vital to PROVIDE the fun for the family. So the work I'm doing on the boat is to make sure next summer I can PROVIDE fun boat trips for the family. ;-)
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