2007 is finally over. Man- 2008 has GOT to be better. Jimmy said it best at Christmas dinner. "I'm glad my Dad didn't die."
We're coming up to the one year anniversary of our meeting with Jim's first surgeon, Dr. Villanueva from Virtua Hospital in Marlton. Right after New Year's last year we met with him and he looked at Jim's scans. He told us Jim might not survive his surgery and if he did he had a forty percent chance of having a stroke on the table. He might go through the rest of his life with a feeding tube, or having his face droop to one side or his tongue permanently hanging out of his mouth. He presented the option of just going home and enjoying the rest of our time together as a viable alternative to even attempting the surgery. Jim and I had looked at each other and thought, how can we go through life like that? Not knowing if at any moment Jim would keel over? And how much time would we have had? A year? Not even that? I spent the whole month of January 2007 walking around in a fog. Then Villanueva decided to back out of the surgery altogether. Off we went to Lahey for a consult at that point. The rest is history.
Shortly before Christmas Jim woke up from a nightmare with a strange image in his head. He sketched it quickly in the morning, then sat down to draw it for real. This is the image:
Freaky, right? Jim has no idea what it is. I think it was him when his carotid burst. It looks to me like a figure emerging from a sheet and the pink represents blood. Anyway...it made for a good picture.
This Friday Jim goes for his bite test at Vanni's office. Hopefully he'll get his teeth shortly thereafter. Then we have to get Spiegel to work our new insurance company for more Vital Stim therapy. Jim was never able to do the second round of Vital Stim because the therapist wanted him to wait until he had his teeth. Now we no longer have Aetna as our insurance company, but Horizon Blue Cross/Blue Shield instead. So I guess another curt letter to Spiegel is in my near future, because the man doesn't respond to anything else.
I had to go food shopping today, and as I finish up and load the groceries into the trunk and start the car I start muttering to myself, "I HATE food shopping..." and then I stopped myself and said, "Pam, are you CRAZY? Remember the first time you went food shopping after Jim got home from Lahey and he had his feeding tube and couldn't eat? And you were so depressed that you were in Shop Rite and Jim couldn't have anything? The man can't eat everything yet but at least he can eat some things! Don't ever say you hate food shopping again!" And I was reminded of a common saying that I hear often...If God brings you to it he'll get you through it.
Happy New Year everyone!
