Of Grandpas and Bathtub Crayons

Time will never slow back down, will it?

We're going into our third week as a family of 4 and I've noticed a few changes around the house. There's the extra toothbrush and deodorant of course, and the ridiculous number of large clonky (is that a word?) men's shoes by the door...

But my goodness... the FOOD we consume! :) Last week I bought half a dozen bananas - which is more than we usually buy at a time - and they were gone in less than 24 hours! I'm finally starting to understand those women I see at the grocer with overflowing carts. I'm still committed to filling ours with better things than I see in most of theirs, but our grocery trip last night had me feeling extravagant! I just kept thinking "could we possibly go through this much before it goes bad??" Of course, we all dug right in when we got home and the fridge already looks emptier. Crazy!

Here's another difference, lol:


And while we are on the theme of bathtub crayons, look what Aidan did while my attention was elsewhere the other day:


And an update on Bob:

We saw a very nice lady doctor who did a very thorough (as far as I could tell) checkup on Bob's back and limbs. She took lots of time to show us where the problem was on the x-ray and gave us lots of treatment options. The long and short of it is that Bob had surgery 6 years ago on his 5th & 6th lumbar that has started a domino effect in deterioration of the other parts of his spine. She was quick to say that from what she can tell, the first surgery was absolutely necessary, but unfortunately the price he'll pay for preventing further damage to that are of his back is that the other areas are taking on more strain than they can handle. The nerves between his 4th &5th lumbar seem to be being crowded and pinched some, and his lower back is carrying more of his weight than it should be.

Treatment options *may* include more surgery - but we are going to try and push that on down the road a bit longer since it will speed up the domino effect. Most likely he will have to manage with some combination of physical therapy and pain medication. We have an appointment with a neurologist and a surgeon next month to get their opinions and check out another possibility that is still very new. He may find relief from an implant that sends signals to his nerves on a continuous basis. It's been approved for pain relief, but it has mixed results as a treatment for restless leg. In any case, it can be very easily removed and he should know whether or not it's working after having it for only a week, so it sounds like something we'd like to try.

There were also things like regular epidurals and some pretty potent numbing medications thrown out there, but we're hoping it doesn't come to that. Pray for us and for the doctors and we all make decisions. Bob has had 2 nearly pain-free days out of 2 1/2 weeks. He was a different person altogether on those days and we'd love for that to be the norm for him.

I'll try to post a more general update soon, I've taken so many cute photos recently!!!

back appointment