Day 160 – Snowy Nuptials and Holey, Moley!

The wedding of my lovely niece, Melissa, and her awesome groom, Josh, was postponed on Saturday due to the freakish early snowstorm.  We were a few blocks from home when Nancy called to tell us there was no power at Silver Buttons Farm and that trees were down, roads closed, etc.  Poor Melissa and Josh!  We turned back home, relieved not to have to travel on the sloshy, slippery roads.  Jeff, it turns out, was still worn out from his doctor visit and catheter removal the day before and immediately went to bed.  Kim and I put on a pot of Butternut Squash Soup and played a game with Keith. 

On Sunday the barn still did not have power.  Generators and propane heaters were brought in so that the wedding could go on.  We worried that the barn would be cold so Jeff wore long johns under his suit.  It turns out the propane heaters, pot-bellied stove and lots of dancing all helped to keep us toasty.  Jeff could, amazingly, keep a beat and danced more than he has danced since maybe our own wedding 32 years ago.  I think his donor must be a good dancer!  In any case, he was dancing with joy and without inhibition simply because he could.  He was able to enjoy this wedding more than our son’s wedding in July.  The two events will forever mark his progress through early recovery.

The hole in Jeff’s chest where his Hickman catheter had been looks like a bullet hole, about ¼ inch in diameter.  It doesn’t appear to be healing over very quickly.  The skin around it looks artificial, like plasticine, due to its having been under a plastic bandage for six months with only brief exposures to air during the weekly dressing changes.  The area is still bruised and he is cautious about letting things – or people – touch him there. 

Jeff put work clothes on twice this week.  He needed suspenders to keep from dropping his too-large britches.  He looked at the leaky roof at church and he surveyed a church building that our congregation expects to take over.  He did more consulting than actual labor but I think he was happy to put on his ol’ uniform.  He has a couple more volunteer repair jobs to do and is glad to have a reason to get some of his tools out again.  I hope neither job will require a ladder because he had a little trouble loading and unloading one today.  Keith hung it back up in the garage for Jeff when he got home from school.

Maria from Dr. Porter’s office offered to make Jeff’s appointment with the orthopedist.  She set the appointment for Tuesday and it will probably involve an MRI of his shoulder.  I hope the orthopedist will have some suggestions for repairing the shoulder and hand or at least to give Jeff a little more freedom of movement on his right side.

I can’t go to the grocery store without running into someone who wants an update on Jeff’s health.  It is getting easier to say he is doing well; I don’t feel as if I have to be so tentative in my response.  It feels weird to be – I don’t know – hopeful?  Jeff and I made plans for an anniversary weekend get-away, close enough that Jeff will not be too uncomfortable traveling, and far enough away to make it seem like a real adventure.  Making reservations, even for the near future, was fun.  Looking forward…