Rest and Recover

Dan’s recovery at home seems to be going as quickly as his recovery at the hospital. We were sent home with a 10lb weight limit and a “don’t do anything that hurts”. Thursday and Friday we spent most of our time on the couch relaxing and watching movies. We had a few visitors once we were home.

By Saturday Dan was getting cabin fever, so we had people over to watch the UFC. Dan was still sleeping a lot, but was able to stay up later than me. Already he was feeling better than before the surgery.

By the 4th, Dan felt up to going to the movies. He was able to tolerate an hour drive up to Keystone and sit through a movie. After we got home, he was pretty tired, but it was nice to go on a date. I returned to work ½ day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Dan started walking around the neighborhood and was up to walking 3 miles that weekend. He even got his appetite back. It had been so long since has eaten to his full potential and I forgot how much that man can eat!

That next Wednesday he was able to drive, and he was less restless with some freedom. He was able to come out to my work picnic to show everyone how well he was recovering. By the next week, Dan was slowly jogging 1.5 miles and walking 1.5. Amazing recovery. We even went to see Tom Petty.

On the 13th, Dan had his checkup with the surgeon. He removed the steristrips and lifted his weight restriction to 25lbs. He was released to a physical therapist to help with the rest of his recovery. He’s started doing things around the house and I was very happy that he could take the trash out again.

Currently Dan is alternating between doing some exercises in the pool, and going up to see Bill Hartman at iFAST. Dan is really enjoying being back in the gym and around such athletic people, and he can’t wait to be off restrictions.  He’s only taking his pain meds at night after a long day.  It won't be too long until he's better than he has ever been!

We start going to the oncologist on August 3rd. He is going to review all of Dan’s history and map out where we go next. Dan will be having frequent checkups, and we are hoping to avoid any chemotherapy and/or radiation.

So here we are almost a month after his surgery and if you passed him on the street you’d never know any of this happened. It’s very surreal looking back at everything we went through in such a short time. We are definitely closer as a couple, and I have learned how to manage stress much better. My perspective on life has changed and I’m much more tolerant of people. You just never know what they are going through. I am very thankful to have a good job with solid benefits. We only have to pay 6% of everything: Dr. visits, colonoscopys, surgery, drugs, and hospital stay. It’s amazing. One thing is for sure, I could not imagine going through this and not having insurance.

I’m also very thankful to have such great, supportive family and friends. We never could’ve done this without them all. We truly have just one large family and I hope, one day we will be able to repay everyone.  Soon, we will celebrate!