Daddy's Girls

Watching Matt’s recovery in the last few weeks has been nothing less than a miracle. 3 weeks ago he was still in ICU and now he barely needs oxygen. He carries it in case and even a short walk still wears him out (doc said months to get full strength back) but he’s off of it for the most part and to me that’s amazing.  He even went hunting last weekend! To be honest I didn’t love the idea but I told Nana he may as well still be in a hospital bed if it’s going to be stuck in a chair. And he did great. He says they dropped him off at the blind and he only needed his oxygen one time. (The 2nd pic was for effect with a caption that said, “Take that Dr. Connelly!” 🙄😂)  And he even even went to work at half day Monday and a full day yesterday. But again, doesn’t have full strength back which is why he didn’t go Tuesday and he was totally worn out yesterday. Even without much physical activity just being out of the house and riding around is a lot on his body. But he’ll get there a...

This week has been back to normal for me and the kids. Of course Matt is still home recovering so I’m trying to be home as much as I can. He doesn’t need me I guess but I’ll be honest that I’m not not ready to fully be back to “normal” so I can’t imagine what it’s like for him.  I’m getting there... but the last month caused so many emotional ups and downs I need recovery too.  It’s kind of hard out there in the real world when people ask how he’s doing and I tell them he’s great and that’s it. Of course my mind knows that’s the way it’s supposed to be and I definitely don’t want to dwell on it but I have to allow myself to feel these things. And it gets better each day so I know I’ll get there. I found this quote and while I’m not comparing this to being with someone during years of a cancer battle and treatment (I know what that’s like too) I think this can apply to any major health issue. But the bottom one is what I turn to more. I’m not sure what this is preparing us for ...

It’s good to be home! We got here Thursday evening but there was no rest for the weary on Friday. I had 2 closings, showed 3 houses and took Matt to a doctor appointment to catch his general practitioner up on his hospital stay. Dad stayed to be here when the kids got home and help Matt with his oxygen delivery while I was gone. I got it all done so I could enjoy a lazy weekend. Dad stayed Saturday to watch the LSU game and because (even though he’d been here 3 weeks) he hadn’t had a chance to visit with me and Matt.  Sunday we got out for a golf cart ride just because Matt needed to get outside.  And then he stayed home and got some time alone for the first time while the girls and I met Cara and Josie at the park.  I know it’s frustrating to him that there is nothing he can do to speed up this process. The doc says exercise will increase his endurance but nothing but time can speed up not needing oxygen. We haven’t been able to figure this out. Some times he can walk fo...

WE ARE HOME!!!! And NOTHING was going to stop us from getting to our girls but there were forces out there that seemed that they were trying.  I guess it started Wednesday. That was our original discharge date. But Tropical Storm Imelda decided to form out of nowhere and put herself directly between us and home. I was stressed about the drive but we found a route to go west before heading north to skirt around it and decided we were not going to worry. What we didn’t realize at the time is how much it was affecting the whole city and the home oxygen delivery couldn’t get to us. (Who knew that didn’t come from the hospital?) We could have let it stress us but instead I wheeled him to the hotel restaurant where he got to have a steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. The first meal at a table in 16 days! Then I wheeled him back to his room and I went to stay at the hotel one more night.  Yesterday morning my bag was in the car at 5:45 because I.WAS.LEAVING that day. Come hell or...

I remember a few days after my Mom passed away I told Matt I was forever changed even though I didn’t know exactly how. My heart ached and I wanted to do what I could to not make my children feel that pain until they were old and gray themselves. It definitely changed some habits and also made me live each day to the fullest and never let a day go by without telling the people I love that I love them. After grief like that it’s impossible to stay the same.  Me and Matt have been through plenty in the last few years. You would think after a heart disease diagnosis that required open heart surgery, plus a blood staph infection and sepsis that ended up causing two surgeries, anything else would be easy. But what we have been through this month tops the others by far. This is the first time I have actually wondered if I was going to lose him. The days he was so sick that I was thinking about what I was going to tell our kids and what life will look like moving forward were the worst da...

That sickness that was in question a couple of weeks ago has totally consumed our lives since. On Labor Day Matt skipped the hunt and came home. He was still running a low grade temp and by this point was out of breath from a walk from his truck to the house. Yaya came to our house and we went to ER where he was admitted that evening with double pneumonia. His o2 level was in the low 90s so they put him on some oxygen and I went home to stay with the girls.  The next morning I got there to him in a full face oxygen mask, barely able to speak and definitely not able to get out of the bed because his o2 levels had dropped in to the low 70s several times overnight and they had to fight to get it back up. The next couple of days are kind of a blur. Despite starting antibiotics and increased oxygen his x-ray kept getting worse. The doc assured us that sometimes the x-ray doesn’t clear up quickly but I knew it didn’t feel right and requested a consult with a pulmonologist and cardiologis...

I was thinking I was planning a relative low-key weekend but it’s been anything but. Friday night we had Josie spend the night while Cara went to work and Luke went to the deer camp.  I absolutely love having her but I had forgotten how busy it is to have a toddler in the house. She never stopped! Having her all night was way different than the three or four hours I usually get her. But definitely not complaining, I want her back next week! She did pretty well at bedtime but it took me about 30 minutes to get her to sleep. Not too bad considering she had never slept at our house but the girls have decided they don’t want a sister, LOL. (Good thing!)  She slept right in the middle of me and Katie in my bed and was up early the next morning. Cara came to get her about 9:30 so that they could go to her cousin’s party at Brownlee Park. I had to work from about 12 to 3 showing houses to two different clients and the girls went over to swim with Noah and Landry while I was gone...