My friend Mark wrote the following message to update people for me, Thank You Mark!
Howdy!
FIrst, let me apologize for not getting a status out the last couple of days, but as you can imagine, it's been busy between work, helping Jennifer, and believe it or not, helping her roommate in the hospital. So, needless to say, my time was quite full.
The last couple of days in the hospital saw great progress on Jennifer's part. She was up and walking, eating well, taking showers, and on her computer, phone and getting better. The progress is slower then she would like, however, it is excellent progress and she's doing and looking fantastic. The nursing staff at the hospital, almost without exception, were fantastically nice and supportive. They never kicked me out of Jennifer's room at 8PM, when visiting hours were over. Tuesday night, I left at 8PM because I was just completely wiped out and exhausted and Jennifer was pretty much sleeping off the anesthesia. Wednesday I stayed until 9:30PM, Thursday I stayed till 10:30PM, and Friday I stayed till 9PM. So, to say they weren't wonderful would be an understatement. They were always smiling, kind, and supporting of everyone there.
Today Jennifer checked out of the hospital and into the Morning After, which is a nice little bed and breakfast that has a 1 bedroom apartment that she's staying in. There are other rooms, however, Jennifer just lucked out in getting the apartment. It's very spacious and very comfortable and a nice change from the hospital. And, get this, there's even an extra bed in the apartment for me to stay in tonight. Unfortunately, I will be leaving tomorrow morning (Sunday). The bed'n'breakfast is really nice and peaceful with nobody else here except for one of the girls' wife. She has satellite TV which includes XM, plenty of overly processed food, so a trip to the grocery store rectified that problem, and she has a wonderfully comfortable chaise lounge to snuggle into with blankets on top. It can be tough after a while, but pretty comfy none the less.
Jennifer's timing was fantastic! She was the first person after Dr. Bower's vacation to start the process of surgeries (this past week was a busy one for Dr. Bowers). As a result, she had her own room at the hospital until Thursday when Jessica joined her as her roommate. Initially when she got there, there weren't that many patients on the floor, so the nurses were able to really focus on Jennifer and not really get pulled too much in other directions.
Jennifer's spirits have been great. Never once has she complained or made a fuss. She's been a real trooper about dealing with the aches and pains. When I would ask her how she was doing or how she felt, she would always be upbeat. And, she would always find the strength to smile through it all. Her desire to keep focusing on the positive steps is commendable. One of the best things she did on Thursday was to do a little jig / dance. I'm NOT kidding here. She had made her way out of her bed and into a chair before I got there that morning. She looked tired sitting there. It was really nice to see her out of the bed and "up". We talked and visited for a while before she took her first walk. It wasn't far, just out of the room and down to the end of the hall just past the nursing station and back. She walked slowly and steadily. When we got back to the room, she got back in the bed and rested. Later that day, she got back up again and needed to stretch and move a bit before her second walk (this time all the way to the cafeteria and gift shop and back). We didn't stop at either one, but she made the full circuit. So, as she gets up and starts stretching and moving for this second walk, she says look and she puts her hands up and shakes her hips a bit and said look, I'm dancing. I just cracked up and knew she was doing well. I know it was hard and she was in pain, but there she was dancing, even if slowly and just a little and smiling from ear to ear. if ever I get sick, I want her there with me to help me stay focused on the good and not get stuck on the bad. She's AMAZING!!!!!!!! And, I'm sure you all know this!!!!!!
Thursday or Friday, I threatened to sing for Jennifer to entertain her, and as some of you know, that's a fate worse then fingernails on a chalkboard. Well, needless to say, even I couldn't be that mean to her and make her suffer, so instead, I opted for poetry. So, I quoted out loud to her:
"There once was a man from Nantucket"
to which her reply was:
"Who went to Trinidad and left his balls in a bucket"
We both burst into laughter. I even told Jennifer I was going to let you all know of HER"poetry "talents." And, trust me, that one short poem was a much better thing to happen then my singing. I think the nurses would have sedated me and thrown me out had I started singing. We still laugh about it.
For as tough as this has been on Jennifer, I want to tell you how wonderfully gracious she has been to EVERYONE. She's treated the nurses, the cleaning staff, me, Dr. Bowers, Carol (Dr. Bower's partner), and the other girls in the hospital with kindness and graciousness. She's been stellar to EVERYONE. The nurses even commented how wonderful she has been. They said they've seen Drs, Lawyers, Teachers, etc... go through this and were some of the biggest babies whining and carrying on and even being demanding or just not very cooperative and nice. They said that they wished all of their patients were like Jennifer. So, needless to say, she really left an impression on the staff at the hospital. Everyone's bent over backwards to make sure she was comfortable, taken care of, and always said hi with a big smile on their faces. And, Carol even said that she told Dr. Bowers that something was wrong with Jennifer because she was always smiling, no matter what was going on (e.g., when the drive locked the keys in the car on the way down from the airport, at night, in the snow, and they had to wait an hour and a half for a locksmith. Carol said that Jennifer just smiled and was as patient and nice as can be.
Today, Saturday, was a great day and a nice and relaxing day. The flowers in the apartment are fantastically beautiful and smell lovely. The light comes into the apartment really well and just brightens up the place. Jennifer had a slight headache at the hospital that just faded away when she got here. I know I am leaving tomorrow (Sunday), and I also know Jennifer is going to do very well here in the apartment by herself. But, really, she wont' be by herself. Julie (one of the girls' wife) will be in/out during the day and Carol will be around as well. I know Jennifer is a bit nervous, and I'm FULLY confident she'll do just perfectly fine.
Before going, and not to get too sappy here, I wanted to let you all know how wonderful an experience this has been for Jennifer. She's got this incredible peaceful smile on her face and is just in heaven. She has this energy about her that I've never seen before. Yes, she's the same person we've always known, but it's different now. Her smile is brighter, her laughter is sweeter, and she seems to be walking on clouds. I don't think I've ever seen her so incredibly happy before, EVER!!! I can't wait till all of you see it too. And, one more thing, without all of your e-mails, flowers, phone calls, gifts, and most of all unconditional Love and support, Jennifer path would have been a rougher and more unpleasant journey. That's not to say she didn't have some rough patches, but trust me, y'all have made it that much easier for her. So, pat yourselves on the back and know that you were all an incredible part of her journey. I've heard some really scary stories from some of the other girls and let me tell you, Jennifer is lucky to have each and everyone of you in her life supporting her all the way.
Let me close out my last status with a few great quotes from Maya Angelou:
- It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.
- Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at it destination full of hope.
- There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
- The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
Best to all,
--Mark
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