The Month of Janet. . .

Around here we refer to February as “the Month of Janet” because of the three special dates that occur in that month: Valentine’s Day on the 14th, our wedding anniversary on the 24th, and the most special day of all – Janet’s Birthday on the 28th. (Way to make life difficult for yourself, there, Mark.)

In 2008, however, the annual month-long celebration fell far short of our expectations. Brain surgery and hanging out in Vanderbilt hospital are not our idea of a fun time, despite what you might have heard. Life has been crazy, but we’re still thankful for many things. So, for the sake of reflection and remembrance, we’d like to review some of the highlights/lowlights for the month. Maybe next year when we look back with more perspective we’ll be able to see why M-of-J ’08 had to be the way it was.

Jan 28 – Craniotomy. We kicked off the celebration of Month of Janet early with a marathon brain surgery lasting about 12 hours – from 7:30am to 7:00pm – at Vanderbilt Univ Hospital (VUH). What a long day! The first half was spent doing a complicated test of the blood flow in J’s head to determine whether or not her aneurysm could be safely clipped. After that was checked off the list, the surgeon (Dr. Mericle) removed a piece of J’s skull, navigated his instruments carefully to the aneurysm site, clipped the little bugger, tested the blood flow again, and closed things up. End result: No more aneurysm! I guess that really is worth celebrating.

Feb 1 – First Trip Home. After a difficult week recovering in the ICU (lots of pain and swelling), Janet was released from VUH on Friday. She was still a bit “out of it”. For example, she fell asleep on the drive home while talking to her sister on the phone. The first week back at home was hard because Janet’s pill schedule was like a nightmare.

Feb 7 – First Trip Back to VUH. Janet went back to the hospital via an overflowing ER. She felt miserable because “post-operative aseptic meningitis” or inflammation of the cerebro-spinal fluid was causing pain and stiffness in her head and neck. It took two and a half days to confirm that diagnosis, but on the Friday 8th we were headed home again with two weeks of steroids to knock out the inflammation. They also simplified her pill schedule which allowed us to get more sleep and have a much less cranky week.

Feb 14 – For Valentine’s Day, some friends offered to bring us food from any restaurant we wanted. The winner was broccoli cheese soup from Jason’s Deli.

Feb 16-17 – First Nice Weekend in a while. Janet actually felt pretty good this weekend. She even drove with Mark to Starbucks, DQ, and Wal-Mart. What more could you ask for!

Feb 20 – Second Trip Back to VUH. Janet’s incision had gotten infected, so she was admitted to VUH for IV antibiotics and an MRI. Half of the doctors on Mericle’s team thought the antibiotics would do the trick, but the other half felt that surgery would be necessary to clean out the incision. Thankfully, Dr. Mericle broke the tie in favor of antibiotics only. To enhance the drama of it all he waited to see Janet and give us his opinion until 8:15 the night before we thought she was going to have surgery. We were doing cartwheels around the room after he told us the good news, which was quite a feat since Janet was still hooked up to an IV pole. We finally got to come home again on Friday the 22nd.

Feb 24 – Happy 7th Anniversary!! We were both exhausted so we slept through church and exchanged cards later that day.

Feb 28 – Happy 30th Birthday, Janet! We celebrated at midnight with a vancomycin (or was it cefapime) infusion and two pieces of chocolate pie. Janet got a nice bracelet that has birthstones of all the members of her family: amethyst for herself, topaz for Spencer, diamond (cz J) for Eli, and emerald for Nathan (and Mark).

Feb 29 – Leap Day. Woo hoo, it’s Friday! Janet has gotten the hang of administering the IV antibiotics although it takes most of her time. Hopefully one more week of this will clear up the infection and March can be hospital free!

Happy Valentine's Day

It's amazing the simple things we take for granted. Janet went to Kroger with Mark's mom today, just to take a short field trip on a sunny day. She enjoyed it but it was exhausting. Staying awake for an entire hour-long show is also surprisingly hard post-surgery. Even so, today was a pretty good day, despite the incessant barking of the neighbor's dog and having to start weaning herself off the pain meds even though she doesn't feel ready.

Both of our mothers have been a huge help this week. Mark's mom (Mary Ann) usually stays with Janet during the day to make sure she is OK and takes her meds on time. She is also helps with laundry, dishes, and special projects that Janet can't do by herself. Janet's mom (Linda) comes by every morning before work to massage her sore neck--she has the 'special touch'. She also goes to the store as many times as we come up with a special request. Janet's Aunt Nancy has filled in occasionally to give Mary Ann a break. We've also enjoyed some wonderful meals from friends three times already this week. Not to mention the care-basket full of chocolate, nail polish, and a very soft bunny from the ladies at church.

We can't say how much we appreciate everyone's help and ongoing prayers. To say we are blessed doesn't even touch it. Our main requests currently are for toleration of pain as Janet reduces her pain meds, for the steroids to keep knocking out the inflammation in her spinal fluid, and for patience to realize it is still going to be a while before Janet feels 100% normal.

On the adoption front, we got some good news about the process moving along for Nathan in Guatemala. His DNA test has been completed to verify that he is the son of his birthmom. Additionally, his case is in the first stage of the court process (family court). These are just some of the early milestones in the process, but it's good to know he is gradually moving closer to coming home. We miss him. He is just so stinkin' cute.

Finally, in 10 days we will be celebrating our 7 year anniversary. We can't believe how quickly those years have gone by, but at the same time we feel like we've been married for decades. Either way we're grateful that we're closer now than we could have dreamed possible when we first got married.

Happy Valentine's Day,
Mark & Janet

Janet had a pretty good day yesterday (2/4) which was a big relief since that was not the case Sunday. Her pain was much much worse Sunday--the meds didn't seem to be helping at all. But yesterday the pain has been more bearable. Mark went back to school and to work today, and various family members are staying with Janet during the day. They have been such a blessing to just hang out and tell her when to take he meds. Keep praying for continued pain relief and for patience & strength for all of us. And some good rest at night.
Pray also for Janet's Granddad. He is still in ICU and the tests determined some small blood "leaks" (basically bleeding internally).