Jackie Nine & A Half

On Monday morning, around seven o’clock, I got a call from Jack telling me that surgery was scheduled for noontime. The Vascular Surgeons had been in and determined that the best way to contain the infection, which is Osteomyelitis, was to amputate part to most of his right big toe.

I raced to shower, dress, and call my friend about walking the dogs, and I was out the door by 8:15!

It took me just about an hour to get there, and get to Jack’s room. Where his Nurse was preparing him for the surgery. His Nurse, stopped to talk to me as well, and all I can say is…what a nice man!

Jack and I talked until they came for him at eleven o’clock, almost an hour earlier than scheduled for his surgery. I walked down to the pro-operative area, and waited with him while Anesthesia came to speak to him. Jack does not do well with general anesthesia, and I wanted to stress this to them. Well the Anesthesiologist couldn’t have been nicer and she switched his drug mixture, which in the end, was perfect for him.

Surgery lasted well over an hour and I texted with my step son the entire time. I was so grateful to him, because he really helped me to stay calm and to relax. Love you Jon!

Finally they came to get me and bring me to recovery, and there Jack was sitting up, wide awake and with slightly less than half his right big toe. His foot was wrapped up in thick bandages and a compression bandage on top.

But best of all, Jack was smiling. He was happy that it was just half the toe and not the entire toe, or the toe and foot! Since he has almost no feeling in his foot, the pain was minimal.

Jack’s only complaint was that he was hungry! But when we arrived back in his room, not only did he have lunch waiting, but he had two roommates!

I got him settled, made sure he was eating his lunch before I headed home. As I got ready to leave, I gave him a big hug and kiss, and whispered in his ear, “Just remember, I love you, Jackie nine and a half toes!”

I’d had only 3 hours of sleep on Sunday night, (a slight panic attack) and I needed rest. I played with the dogs, got them fed, and at 9:30 last night I climbed into bed with the dogs and I slept until six o’clock this morning.

Today I am off to see him again. They mentioned that they may release him by the end of the week, so once I find out when, I need to do a big grocery shopping.

So that was my day yesterday, and now it’s time to drink my coffee, and then get ready to hit the road. Thank you for all your prayers!