Friday, November 11, 2011

(posted by Greg)

For the last few days we have been kept busy by hospital visits. Opa's day surgery became problematic when they couldn't do the simple surgery on his foot and they had trouble stopping the bleeding from the attempt to do it. Eventually, they got him stabilized and decided to then proceed with the more complicated (and riskier) foot operation. (Basically, the surgeon was trying to improve the circulation to his foot. Opa has diabetes and it was beginning to look like he might lose his foot.). The surgery was risky because of Opa's other problems and (I think) that there was a risk that he might lose his foot in any event if the procedure did not work.

Monica and Marley wound up spending about 13 hours at Richmond Hospital while all this was going on and only left Opa when he was relatively stable in the ICU unit.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, it was hard to see Opa as he couldn't speak because of the breathing tubes. However, Monica and Marley went both days. Fortunately Opa seems to be pullin through and the procedure seems to be working. On Thursday he was much better and has been moved to a regular ward.

Monica and I visited Oma Wednesday night in Langley. She was a bit tired but generally seems to be doing ok in the care home. After visiting Oma, Monica and I dropped off a plate of food for Ingo who is coming down with a cold or something.

I am sure that all of this is difficult for Monica but she is holding up well. She is having the same slight problem with "catching" her left foot when she walks but otherwise seems fine. At some level, I think the extra efforts with Oma and the cooking for Ingo make her feel better because she feels like she is contributing. I am still hoping to have Monica speak with a counsellor at InspireHealth at some point to "talk through" some of these feelings as I think it will be helpful.

Last night, Marley, Monica and I had a night out and went to the Circel Craft fair at the Convention Centre. It was fun but a bit of a shock to the system to dunked into the "Christmas Season"!