May 28-30, 2016
It was very nice to have Den home for the long, holiday weekend. We tried to keep it low key and just get his routine set.
Den’s family came over on Sunday to celebrate his homecoming. Everyone brought a dish to share. The weather was perfect…almost like we had ordered it. Em had a nice time getting to know her nieces and nephew and talking with her half sisters. I tried to stay out of the way so his family could have some quality time with him. Den sat in his favorite yard chair and everyone found places in the shade to set the chairs that they had brought with them. I sat to the side with my book and drink, keeping a watchful eye on Den from a “safe distance”. The kids all played in the yard and had a good time. Even Harry, our dog, behaved himself (he was usually sitting on my lap watching everyone.) It was nice to see his family welcome him home. He had not seen most of them since before his surgery…almost a month ago. You could see on everyone’s faces and hear in their voices that they were all happy to have Den out of the hospital and on the road to recovery.
By late afternoon, Den was exhausted and called an end to the gathering. Everyone said good bye and packed up to leave. After everyone had gone, I got Den back into the house. He asked if he could lay down for a little while so he headed to the bedroom. I don’t think it took 5 minutes for him to fall asleep. The rest of the weekend would be ours and I was still in the euphoria of just having him home to care about anything else. We were still trying to set up a schedule to get everything done in a timely manner. For instance, I had to get his daily dressing change done, Em to school, myself to work, pick Em up, cook dinner, help Em with homework (on occasion), and all the other little things that get in the way of doing the fun stuff! Den and I hashed that out over the weekend so that everyone got their needs met in as timely a manner as possible.
Monday was a very quite day. We passed the time a few movies and some bar-b-que for dinner. I made my almost famous baby back ribs with homemade potato salad. We all ate well enough to need a nap in the evening. Tomorrow would be a busy day with all of the home health care people coming to see Den to start the week off right.
Den's LVAD 